A few days ago, BMI Regional announced that they were closing their service between Edinburgh and Stornaway due to insufficient demand. The airline ensured there would be no inconvenience to their customers already booked by transferring their tickets to the continuing British Airways service.

When the route was introduced a couple of years ago, many might have been puzzled as to why a remote Scottish island would be interested in another daily service to the capital. However, increases in tourism, and the developing governance of the Scottish Executive would have been good reason to believe that passenger numbers were likely to increase. Whilst numbers have increased, so has the capacity of the Loganair planes, and there are simply too many empty seats to make it worthwhile for BMI to continue.

We're pleased that BMI have immediately rebooked passengers on the alternative flights. It contrasts with the practice of some low cost carriers who try to avoid rerouting passengers, instead thinking that a refund will be satisfactory. We take a brief look at passenger rights when a route is closed.

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.

Early reports from the BBC indicate that today's Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Derry has landed at Ballykelly Airport, some five miles away, in error.

The flight is believed to have been operated on behalf of Ryanair by Eirjet, a charter company based in Shannon, Ireland. Passengers on the Airbus A320 were transported the remaining distance to Derry Airport by bus.

Two of the largest budget carriers in Europe have today announced 125 flight cancellations due to industrial action in France. Ryanair have cancelled at least 83 flights and Easyjet 44 flights.

It is likely that other carriers will also suffer delays and cancellations to services into and out of France.

Both Easyjet and Ryanair have published information on their websites regarding your rights in such situations. You should note, however, that this information is incomplete. Under European law you have two additional rights that may suit you dependent upon your circumstances:

The start of budget carrier Ryanair's online check in has had a chaotic start at Dublin Airport with security staff refusing to operate the new system.

Despite Ryanair throwing the blame around for the fiasco, it says little for the airline that it found out about the problem from the Irish Times. Travellers with boarding cards printed off from the internet found that they were being turned around at the security gate and told to check in normally for their flights. It rapidly became clear that security staff had not agreed to operate the new system and have now entered negotiations with the airport authorities to try to resolve their concerns.

Budget airline Ryanair has launched an online check in system that will some passengers paying £13.50 for a boarding card.

The airline's "Checkn'n'Go" service allows customers to check in for flights online by printing a boarding pass between 4 hours and 3 days before departure. Once printed the boarding card can be used to bypass check in and proceed directly to the security check and departure area.

Like other airlines, the service is intended for passengers with hand baggage only. However, should you print a boarding card and subsequently decide to take hold baggage, Ryanair will charge you £5 per bag checked in and a hefty £13.50 to reissue a boarding card. The same £13.50 charge will apply if you fail to bring the boarding card with you to the airport.

Speculation is increasing that the UK flight regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), may be considering moves to take the low cost airline Ryanair under its wing.

Currently Ryanair is established as an Irish carrier, and is regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority. Changing the airline's status to bring it under the auspices of the CAA would allow the UK regulator to manage Ryanair's operations including crew training and maintenance.

Low cost airline Ryanair has announced that it is cutting services on its Liverpool to Cork route, blaming increased charges levied at Cork Airport.

The current daily service between Liverpool and Cork will be cut to four times a week from June 2006. Other destinations served by Cork are unaffected.

No other airline currently operates the Cork to Liverpool route, but bmibaby fly daily into nearby Manchester. Ryanair have announced a three times a week flight to Kerry from Liverpool for those days that the airline is not flying to Cork.

Ryanair, the low cost airline, has announced a new service from Liverpool to Kerry in the south west of Ireland.

The announcement was lost in an angry statement by Ryanair attacking new charges at Cork Airport. The new service from Liverpool to Kerry will start on 13th June 2006 and operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The airline will fly to Cork on days where it is not operating to Kerry.

Ryanair has been flying from Kerry since October last year with daily services to London Stansted and Hahn Airport, near Frankfurt.