‘No flights at all': Passengers' fears over Ryanair cuts to Italy-UK routes
Budget airline Ryanair operates a large number of direct flights between Italy and the United Kingdom, and at many smaller Italian airports it has long been the only airline to do so.
But in recent years an increasing number of the Ryanair flights between the UK and Italy appear to have been cut down to summer season only or, in some cases, cancelled altogether.
Frustrated passengers in central Italian regions this week told The Local how there appear to be no direct flights available at all this winter from Ancona, Perugia or Pescara airports, leaving the area's large international community without the vital connections they have long relied on.
'We have been waiting patiently to find out what has happened in central Italy, having lived here for 18 years and regularly using Ryanair for over 24 years to get back and forth to the UK,' said resident Sarah Topps.
Sarah posted a petition on Change.org urging Ryanair to continue serving the region after she found that no flights had been scheduled for winter 2025 from Perugia, Ancona or Pescara.
There now appear to be "no flights at all with Ryanair" to the UK from central Italy, she said, leaving passengers instead facing a three- or four-hour journey to Rome or Bologna airports.
Sarah said she hoped the petition would 'show Ryanair how valuable these flights really are.'
'We can't understand their logic as the flights are almost always full."
Sarah pointed out that many Brits might not have discovered these relatively little-known areas of central Italy if not for Ryanair flying to the nearby airports.
"WIthout them they would never have come to look at their properties in the first place, so they really value their services."
Marina Webster, a long-term resident of the Marche region, said she too uses all of the three nearby airports to get back to the UK to visit family.
"One of the reasons we chose this part of Italy to live in was because of Ryanair flying to those three airports," she told The Local.
"The flights usually go to three times a week in winter and are always full - mostly with Italians," she added.
If the flights are no longer available "I'll probably have to get a train to Bologna or Rome, and depending on flight times have to do an overnight stay," Marina said.
"It adds a lot of costs and extra travel time."
Ryanair had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.
It was unclear whether the routes were affected by the planned cut to services to and from Italian airports announced by Ryanair's management at the beginning of 2025.
The airline said at the time it would be scaling back operations in Italy and several other European countries amid ongoing disputes with governments.
It confirmed the cutbacks would affect airports in Rome, saying it would no longer be going ahead with a planned expansion at Ciampino airport.
Ryanair has also scrapped several other direct connections between Italy's smaller airports and the UK in recent years, including the Pisa to Liverpool and Bari to Liverpool routes.
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