Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, told the London Times that: 'Sadly UK traffic and tourism continues to collapse while Ryanair continues to grow traffic rapidly in those countries which welcome tourists instead of taxing them.'
The Ryanair flights into Tampere have proved popular with British and other expats and especially those in an 'international relationship' with a Finn.
'I honestly don't know how we'd have survived without it,' explain Dave, originally from Warwick and now living in Tampere. 'The only way the relationship worked was through the Ryanair flight to Tampere and SKYPE!' However, other expats were far more critical.
'I've got quite a few friends in Finland so that's why I come here quite a lot,' explained Joe, 28, a British PhD student. 'But after one time - when I booked my ticket and they never sent me the confirmation - I vowed never again. There's no email address to contact, nobody ever answers the phone . . . I turned up at Tampere and ended up having to pay a second time . . . and pay much more. And the flights have basically got much more expensive. The prices are the same, if not more, than they were four years ago but now you pay extra for luggage and soon, I hear, going to loo!'
Ryanair has already cut flights from Tampere to London. It began in 2003 with a single daily flight from Stansted to Tampere. In 2005, there were two flights a day - one early in the morning and the other late at night - but this was soon reduced back to one. A rival cheap airline, Easyjet, runs flights from Helsinki to London, but these are to Gatwick which is far closer to London than Stansted, which is over an hour from central London by car.
Nobody from Ryanair could be reached for comment. The decision on the future of the Stansted-Tampere flight is still pending.
