Aer Arann has announced plans to withdraw winter services from Galway Airport by the end of this month.
In a statement, the company said that it had worked with Galway Airport to “explore all commercial options” but that bookings had continued to deteriorate.
"A number of issues have combined to bring about this decision but the biggest driver is the economy which has led to fewer people travelling and a significant reduction in fare revenues which is being experienced by regional airlines all over Europe", Aer Arann CEO Paul Schütz said.
All of the routes were projected to be loss-making in winter, the statement said.
Aer Arann Regional has 35 flight deck and cabin crew based in Galway and all will be offered the opportunity to move to other Aer Arann bases in Shannon, Cork, Dublin and Waterford.
The company said that a small number of redundancies could arise but that its priority was to limit this number. It said that there was potential for staff to take unpaid leave through the winter so as to avoid redundancy.
The airline intends to operate a normal Galway schedule up to and including 31 October and will recommence services in April of next year.
The suspended Galway routes will be the flights between Galway airport and London Southend, London Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh and Waterford.
Passengers with confirmed booking for flights after these dates will be contacted directly by Aer Arann about their travel options.
Booked passengers on all routes will be offered a full refund but passengers on the Manchester and Edinburgh routes will have a rebooking option, instead of a refund, on Aer Lingus Regional flights operated by Aer Arann from other airports.
