Easyjet pull plug on Belfast Go flights

Low cost airline Easyjet has pulled the plug on Go flights between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Easyjet, which purchased Go from British Airways earlier this month for £375m, said that the flights had been cancelled and that passengers would be transferred to other available Easyjet flights.

The airline said that with overcapacity on the routes and with both Easyjet and Go operating just tax flights on the Belfast to Glasgow and Belfast to Edinburgh routes too many fares were being given away.

A spokesperson for Easyjet said that for the next few weeks seat capacity had been deliberately curtailed on Easyjet flights to permit Go passengers who were transferring to get available seats.

In a statement the company said that the Go services would end on August 19, although to minimise passenger inconvenience, Go will operate a normal schedule over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Friday 23 to Monday 26 August, on both routes.

Easyjet denied that any other Go flights would be cut and that the Belfast-Scotland routes were unusual in that the flights were between the same airports in effect duplicating activity and providing too much capacity on these routes.

Easyjet is to operate three flights a day to and from Belfast to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The low-cost airline also announced the introduction of a fourth Glasgow service on October 27, bringing the total number of daily flights between Belfast and Scotland to seven.

"Go and Easyjet announced their intentions to operate on these routes in direct competition to one another on the same day. This head-to-head competition led to an over-supply of capacity, which was completely unsustainable," said Ray Webster, Easyjet chief executive.

In the short term, the Go aircraft currently operating these services will be used to improve operational integrity on the Easyjet network.

The company confirmed that Go passengers on affected flights are being contacted by Go customer services to arrange a transfer onto an Easyjet flight.

Go passengers with any further queries regarding their flight on either of these routes should contact Go's customer services team on 0870 60 76543.

(SP)