The budget airline Ryanair has announced an almost immediate closure of its Dublin to Cardiff route having failed to reach an agreement with Cardiff Airport over passenger charges.

The route closed on May 1st, with passengers only being offered a transfer between the two airports until May 10th. The situation starkly demonstrates how passengers can be quickly inconvenienced when a carrier fails to agree terms with an airport or other supplier.

In a statement the airline takes an odd position refusing to absorb price increases proposed by Cardiff Airport on behalf of its passengers. Even a three times increase in a passenger charge is likely to be insignificant when compared the cost and inconvenience of having to travel from Cardiff to catch a flight from Bristol. We checked with another Irish carrier, Aer Arran and found that they quoted the Cardiff passenger charge at £3.50. We wonder why Ryanair didn't simply pass on the increase and see whether or not passengers were happy to absorb it.

Passengers wishing to fly between Dublin and Cardiff will, however, be pleased to note that Aer Arran are now flying from Cardiff to Dublin twice daily, with an additional flight to Galway from 25th May.