Ryanair claims Spanair receives illegal funding

Airline’s deputy CEO also calls Spanish carrier “inefficient, high-cost and polluting”

AGENCIES – Madrid – 10/01/2012

Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair sought to justify the funding it has received from the Catalan government to fly out of the airports of Reus and Girona, but slammed subsidies afforded to its Barcelona-based rival Spanair as “illegal.”

At a news conference to announce 19 new flights out of Girona this summer, Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said the Catalan government had habitually broken European rules on state aid in its funding of Spanair, which he described as “inefficient, high-cost, polluting and should be in receivership.”

Ryanair last year negotiated eight million euros in funding from Catalonia in order to continue flying out of Reus and Girona. Cawley said Ryanair “does not look for subsidies, but for low costs,” and “does not care” how it goes about securing them.

via Ryanair claims Spanair receives illegal funding · ELPAÍS.com in English.

Ryanair announces agreement with the Catalan government for operations at Girona and Reus

Ryanair announced on Wednesday that, ‘after months of difficult negotiations’, it has reached a pre-agreement with the Generalitat of Cataluña for increased flight operations at Girona and Reus. The airline spoke of ‘new aircraft, traffic and jobs at Girona from April 2012,’ and said it expects to increase traffic there from the current 2 million passengers annually up to 3 million within the space of 12 months. For Reus, routes, traffic and jobs will be reinstated, also from April 2012, with traffic expected to increase up to 500,000 passengers a year. Both agreements are however dependent on confirmation from AENA Spanish Airports of the cost of airport taxes at the two airports for next year. The low cost airline said in a statement that, ‘If AENA increases its already high taxes at Girona and Reus, these pre-agreements will be cancelled and the aircraft and routes will be transferred to other airports with lower operating costs.’El País indicates that Ryanair is set to receive 5.8 million € in annual public subsidies for the Girona agreement, plus land to build a hotel. The amount agreed for Reus is 3.2 million € a year.

via Ryanair announces agreement with the Catalan government for operations at Girona and Reus.

Castellón Airport steps up efforts to bring in airlines.

Aerocas, the public company that manages Castellón Airport, has been intensifying efforts to have flights when it expects to open in April 2012.  According to company sources, contacts have been made with half a dozen of firms with the aim of launching flights in April. Efforts were especially intense at the World Routes Fair in Berlin, which promoted 800 airports and 300 airlines around the world. The provincial Tourism office has also negotiated with international tour operators to bring charter flights to the airport. Furthermore, it points to the arrival by air of 25,000 Austrian pensioners, next spring, through the agency Senioren Reisen. It was intended to do so this campaign, but  the delay in opening forced them to divert flights to Reus and Manises. The provincial government had to bear the costs of the transfer by road to Castellón.
With the current crisis it is not an easy task.  Existing airports such as Lleida, Huesca and Ciudad Real, with little traffic, can attest to that. Reus will also become an airport without flights in the new year until operators renew their summer flight schedules.
Aerocas maintains its forecast of 600,000 passengers for the first year of operation but the  Ministry of Tourism recently  halved this expected  figure to 300,000 passengers.
In the meantime the company will see it’s budget for 2012 reduced by 58% as the provincial government starts its austerity programme. It will receive 34.9 million euros, 38 million less than in 2011 despite its launch scheduled for the first half of 2012. The airport plans to start flights in the first half of 2012 and reach full activity in 2013. Their objective, as stated in the budget, is to strengthen rural tourism.

Ryanair to close base in Reus

The huge popularity of Ryanair allows it to continue playing hardball with Spain’s regional airports.

The Irish airline announced this week that it will withdraw its base, and therefore its fleet from Reus, having failed to reach an agreement with the Government and institutions of the province of Tarragona. “Today is a sad day for Ryanair, after multiple attempts to close a deal beneficial to both parties, we have been forced to make this decision,” argued the company vice president Michael Cawley.  The airline blamed the Catalan government and Tarragona authorities for its decision.  “Unfortunately, these institutions have repeatedly failed to comply with commitments to support and help the development of the Ryanair base in Reus,” airline vice president Michael Cawley said in a statement. Cawley has accused the Catalan government alleging lack of capital to support the agreement, “and then it gives 20 million euros to Spanair, a company near bankruptcy.”

Ryanair said that since November 2008 it had used the airport in Reus, south of Barcelona, as a base for three planes in summer and one in winter. It planned to close the base on October 30.  Ryanair operates 28 routes, 24 domestic and four international from Reus and despite its departure in October, the low cost airline will continue to operate routes from the airport near Tarragona in the summer of 2012 with aircraft based at other airports.

With the departure of the three planes that make up the Reus fleet , will also disappear around 150 direct jobs and 500 indirect, of the existing  1,300 now in the airport.
Ryanair regretted the loss of jobs but was prepared to consider re-opening the base if it obtained “reliable guarantees” that the authorities would abide by contract agreements, he added. An airline spokesman declined to say how many jobs were affected.

This latest development opens new possibilities that the company could now operate from the new airport in Castellon.