Belfast has appeared on a list of 14 new routes confirmed by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary for the summer, highlighting the company’s continued growth in Portugal. The route is not yet bookable on the Ryanair website, while other routes announced yesterday all are.
At the launch press conference, O’Leary criticised the high fees imposed by ANA, which, he claims, are forcing airlines like Ryanair to reduce regional flights to and from Portugal.
Ryanair demanded that the Portuguese Government open Montijo airport to put an end to ANA’s monopoly on high fees in Lisbon.
Ryanair’s summer schedule for 2024 includes:
- 14 new routes (Alicante, Budapest, Ibiza, Krakow, Madrid, Marrakech, Norwich, Pisa, Poznan, Rome, Stockholm and Tangier x2.
- Total of 170 routes.
- Traffic grows to 13.5m passengers per year (+7pc).
- 28 based aircraft (investment of $3bn).
- Supports 11,000 jobs, including 1,000 pilot, cabin crew, and engineering jobs.
The airline says ANA’s monopoly decision to increase fees by +17pc from January 2024 is evident through the closure of Ryanair’s base in Ponta Delgada and the withdrawal of one of two B737 aircraft from their base in Madeira, as well as additional cuts in the summer of 2024 in Faro and Porto. At Lisbon Portela Airport, where there are capacity restrictions, ANA’s fees are increasing by 17pc, well above inflation (2.3pc). These increases in airport fees imposed by ANA’s monopoly are happening when most European airports are reducing fees to recover pre-Covid traffic and stimulate growth. These above-inflation airport fee increases only enrich ANA’s French-owned monopoly – VINCI.
