Ryanair cancels about 2,000 flights over six weeks

Ryanair announced Friday it was cancelling between 1,680 and 2,100 flights over the next six weeks in a bid to "improve punctuality", sparking outrage from passengers who suddenly have to make new travel plans. The Irish low-cost airline said it would scrap 40 to 50 flights daily - "less than two percent" of its flying programme - to address problems caused by air traffic control (ATC) delays and strikes, weather disruption and a change in the holiday schedules of pilots and cabin crews.
Throughout the day on Friday, the Ryanair Twitter feed was filled with complaints from passengers who had their flights cancelled, with one describing the lack of notice an "absolute disgrace" and another saying it was "shocking". "We apologise sincerely to the small number of customers affected by these cancellations, and will be doing our utmost to arrange alternative flights and/or full refunds for them," the airline's head of communications, Robin Kiely, said in a statement.