Soon after Little Red ceases domestic operations next year, Ryanair intends to boost flights on at least one route.
According to the latest news from The Scotsman, Ryanair is set to boost flight frequency on the Edinburgh to London Stansted route from three to five flights a day.
Approval (for the slots) has already been granted by Edinburgh airport, according to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.
Currently Ryanair does not serve this route at all. But is it scheduled to launch a new three daily service from the start of the winter season in a few weeks’ time.
It will also inaugurate a new route linking Glasgow (the main airport) with London Stansted (Ryanair’s previous Glasgow-Stansted service departed from Glasgow’s ‘far out’ Prestwick airport).
These two new routes will place Ryanair on ‘head to head’ competition with Easyjet. And therefore it will mean fiercer price competition for current incumbent Easyjet.
A number of readers have surmised that another domestic airline would take over the role of Little Red at London Heathrow. But given Heathrow’s slot situation and its high operational costs that would seem unlikely at the time of writing.
Alex McWhirter