Ryanair has confirmed it will close its base in RYG as of Saturday, October 29th, 2016 and reduce its traffic in Norway by approximately 50 per cent.
The move follows a decision by the government of Norway to introduce a new tax of 80 Norwegian kroner to be paid by all airline passengers departing from any airport in Norway on both domestic and international flights.
That 50 per cent reduction in traffic translates to 900,000 fewer passengers and a loss of approximately 1,000 jobs as a result of the tax, argues Ryanair.
In Oslo, Ryanair chief commercial officer, David O’Brien said: “The illogical decision of the Norwegian Government to introduce a flat rate environmentally unfriendly tax unfairly penalises passengers on efficient, green, airlines such as Ryanair in favour of passengers on high fare, half empty, gas guzzling airlines, and destroys the cost competitiveness of privately owned Oslo Rygge Airport in favour of the state owned Avinor monopoly.
“As a result, Ryanair has no choice but to close its Oslo Rygge base which will result in our Norwegian traffic being cut in half.