Ryanair suspends Brussels flights

Budget carrier Ryanair has announced that it will be suspending sale of tickets on flights to and from Brussels Charleroi from November unless action is taken to prevent further wildcat strikes by airport staff.

The carrier said that a strike by security staff at the hub in June caused severe disruption for around 22,500 Ryanair passengers.

While the airport has attempted to reassure the airline that no further strikes will take place, Ryanair said that it was suspending its flights to Brussels Charleroi from November 12th.

"Ryanair is determined to ensure that its flights and passengers at Charleroi will not be cancelled again and so there must be an effective contingency plan in place to keep this international airport open and operational even if some staff wish to engage in wildcat strikes in the future," said a statement from the Irish airline.

However, the low-cost carrier stressed that flights to and from the Belgian hub in August, September and October would go ahead.

Meanwhile, Ryanair hit out at a report from Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which claimed that it was cheaper and quicker to take to the Eurostar train to Brussels than fly with the airline.

Ryanair's head of communications, Peter Sherrard, commented: "Only in the parallel universe of the ASA quango can a one hour ten minute flight be declared to be longer than a two hour 11minute train journey. Even a four-year-old with basic maths could tell you that the flight is shorter."

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