Ryanair will cease operations from Bournemouth Airport for three months again this winter.

The carrier will suspend flights from Bournemouth during November, December and January, mirroring the operational move it made last year.

The low-cost airline, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary at the airport this year, blames the controversial air passenger duty tax for the move but stress the problem is not confined to Bournemouth.

Flights will run from February to October 2012 with one aircraft based at the airport operating seven spring routes from February and a total of 12 summer routes from the end of March.

Destinations include Alicante, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife as well as Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga and Pisa, Faro, Murcia and Palma Mallorca.

Maria Macken, Ryanair’s sales and marketing executive for the UK and Ireland, said: “The tax has been a big problem as well as the rising fuel costs. We are grounding 80 aircraft across all the bases this winter – twice what we did last year.

“But as a show of our support and commitment to the airport, Bournemouth is the first airport in the UK to have their routes on sale now.”

She added: “It’s not viable to run a winter schedule at the moment but the fact that we have already announced 12 routes for next year shows our commitment.”

She said Ryanair staff based at the airport had been informed and would either work at another base or take some unpaid leave during the winter.

The airport has recently undergone a £45 million transformation programme including a new arrival hall, which opened in May.

Rob Goldsmith, managing director at Bournemouth Airport, said: “We fully understand the challenges which airlines face in the current economic climate, and Ryanair has already announced that they will be significantly reducing their flights across the UK as a whole this winter.

“However we are delighted that their spring/summer 2012 programme of flights from Bournemouth will be on sale from today.

“I understand we are the only airport in the UK which will have Ryanair summer 2012 routes on sale so early, and this is really encouraging news as it demonstrates their ongoing commitment to the airport and the region.”

l Ryanair representatives were at the Dolphin Centre in Poole yesterday to promote a competition to win a short break to Ibiza.