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No replacement flights for 12 Ryanair axed routes in Spain
Budget airline Ryanair has scrapped 800,000 seats to and from Spain
From this weekend onwards, Ryanair will begin axing a total of 12 routes from Spanish airports and despite constant reassurances from the Ministry of Transport that passengers wouldn’t lose out on flights, it’s been confirmed that no other airlines will step in to make up the shortfall.
Ryanair has permanently pulled out of Valladolid and Jerez airports and the Irish airline has also drastically reduced the number of flights to and from five other airports: Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Asturias, Zaragoza and Santander. The budget carrier’s decision is as a result of a long-standing dispute with Aena, Spain’s airport management company, over increased taxes.
Some 800,000 seats will no longer be available during the upcoming Easter holidays, and there are no plans for other airlines to fill the gap, at least for the time being.
According to sources at EasyJet, AirNostrum and Iberia Express, the Irish airline's announcement was made at a time when they had already finalised all their planning for the summer season, which will not end until late October, so these routes didn’t fit into their commercial strategy.
In February, Volotea expressed interest in taking over some of these routes— “if they leave, the government shouldn't worry, we're there,” said its CEO, Carlos Muñoz at the time —but company sources have since explained that their summer schedule is now set. However, Volotea has announced a new connection between Jerez and Asturias, which could relieve a little pressure.
Likewise, Vueling has announced an increase in service to the routes it already operates between Jerez and Palma de Mallorca, as well as the connection to Barcelona, starting in April.
Speaking about the long-standing dispute between the Irish company and AENA, which accused Ryanair of “blackmail”, Ryanair's spokesperson in Spain, Elena Cabrera said, “We’ll agree to disagree and remain open to finding a compromise where not only Ryanair, but all companies, can find regional airports more commercially attractive.”
Ryanair will cease operating the routes between Jerez and Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela, along with flights between Valladolid and Barcelona and London Stansted, permanently.
Likewise, it will axe the route between Vigo and Barcelona, flights to Vienna and Lisbon from Zaragoza, the London flight from Asturias, and the route that connects Cantabria's Seve Ballesteros-Santander airport with Alicante.
It will also withdraw one of its four aircraft from Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport, the very one that operated the route to Jerez, which has also been discontinued.
Image: Ryanair
