Rynanair is to axe flights between the UK and Belfast at the end of October.
The airline took the decision to pull out of Belfast City after the airport confirmed that a public inquiry into a proposed runway extension would be further delayed.
Ryanair currently operates flights to Belfast City from Stansted, Bristol, East Midlands, Glasgow and Liverpool. Opportunities for other flights are limited due to the airport’s short runway.
A runway extension, which would have allowed Ryanair to operate flights from Belfast City to other European destinations, was original scheduled for 2008 but it will not now go ahead until 2012 at the earliest, said Ryanair.
In a statement the airline said: "Ryanair had planned to open up a wide range of low fare European routes from/to Belfast City once the promised runway extension was delivered, but this has sadly failed to materialise.
"Today’s closure of Ryanair’s Belfast City base means that Belfast and Northern Ireland tourism will lose up to one million passengers annually."
From early November, Ryanair will switch its one Belfast City-based aircraft to another European airport.
By Linsey McNeill
