Ryanair have confirmed to Radio Foyle that Faro will only run during July this year. We already knew that and disappointingly it is the same for Alicante however Ryanair said it was due to "a lack of aircraft capacity" which presumably means they are short of planes or more specifically have been able to deploy the aircraft more profitably elsewhere.
These routes always had good loads so this raises questions over the yields but on the other hand the routes haven't been axed. However next year will be telling. Will the routes be axed or again just fly one month or will they be increased again following new aircraft deliveries.
It seems a shame having established both routes to let them wither but it does look like a continuing decline from 7 months some years ago on the Alicante route to just 1 month now. This is hardly encouraging to passengers and also means the empty flight at the beginning and end of the season to reposition aircraft since LDY is not a base is divided over fewer flights which again decreases the yield even more starkly.
And when the bean counters decide what routes to run next year will they just see declining revenues or will they take account of their lack of capacity.
We lost Tenerife (and Lanzarote), Bristol, East Midlands and Birmingham. Yes Air Passenger Duty is much to blame but the two Belfast airports still manage. I'm not sure Ryanair and their lack of commitment to the airport in recent years is doing LDY any favours long term.