Ryanair cancellations may be due to losing over 100 pilots to new Dublin based rival

This would make a lot of sense.

Over the weekend, Ryanair announced that they would be cancelling between 40 and 50 flights every day for the next six weeks. They have released the cancelled flights as far as Wednesday 20 September and are due to release the full list of cancelled flights for the next six weeks quite soon. The reason given for this was so that their work calendar could successfully switch from April-March to January-December, as well as a backlog of crew leave which must be handed out before the end of the year. However, news of a mass exodus of their pilots to a rival airline that is setting up in Dublin may prove to also be a big factor in the cancellations. According to The Guardian, Norwegian Air stated that: "We can confirm that 140 pilots have joined Norwegian from Ryanair this year. Pilot recruitment is also under way for more pilots for our new Dublin base opening later this year." The Belfast Telegraph are reporting that Ryanair have begun offered a “signing-on” bonus of €10,000 (£8,800) in a bid to get experienced pilots to join Ryanair as it struggles to fill jobs. Norwegian Air are planning to open a subsidiary base in Dublin - Norwegian Air International - which will be set up to operate low-cost long-haul flights between Europe, North America and Asia, telling The Irish Times last week: "We have seen lots of interest in joining Norwegian so the new Dublin base will create some exciting opportunities to be part of a fast-growing airline."