RYANAIR ANNOUNCES CANARY ISLAND CUTS AFTER REGIONAL GOVT RENEGES ON GROWTH AGREEMENT

21 ROUTES CANCELLED, 32 ROUTES REDUCED, 1.1M PAX & OVER 1,100 JOBS TO BE LOST AT GRAN CANARIA, FUERTAVENTURA, LANZAROTE & TENERIFE

2012-07-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost airline, today (19 July) confirmed deep cuts at its 4 Canary Island airports with the cancellation of 21 routes and frequency reductions on 32 other routes, which will result in cuts of over 1.1m passengers p.a. to/from the Canaries after the Regional Government of the Canary Islands reneged on its low-cost traffic growth incentive scheme agreement with Ryanair. As a result of these cuts, Ryanair’s Canary Island traffic will fall by over 26% from 4.35m to 3.2m p.a. with the loss of over 1,100 local “on site” jobs

From Nov 2012, Ryanair will make the following reductions to its Canary Island operations:

·         Gran Canaria: 7 routes cancelled, 8 routes suffer frequency cuts, 38 weekly flights lost, annual traffic reduced by 300,000, from 1.1m to 800,000.

·         Fuertaventura: 4 routes cancelled, 8 routes suffer frequency cuts, 30 weekly flights lost, annual traffic reduced by 250,000, from 650,000 to 400,000.

·         Lanzarote: 6 routes cancelled, 6 routes suffer frequency cuts, 38 weekly flights lost, annual traffic reduced by 300,000, from 1.1m to 800,000

·         Tenerife: 4 routes cancelled, 10 routes suffer frequency cuts, 36 weekly flights lost, annual traffic reduced by 300,000, from 1.5m to 1.2m.

Speaking in Tenerife today, Ryanair’s Michael Cawley said:

“Ryanair sincerely regrets the Regional Government of the Canary Islands’ decision to renege on its low-cost growth incentive agreement with Ryanair. Instead of more than 4.3m passengers and the thousands of local jobs which this traffic sustains, Ryanair’s Canary Island traffic will now fall by over 26% to just 3.2m passengers p.a.. Ryanair will cut 21 routes and make frequency cuts on 32 other routes, with the loss of over 140 weekly flights. Sadly, over 1.1 million passengers p.a. and over 1,100 jobs will be lost on the Canary Islands to other lower cost airports elsewhere in Europe, where Ryanair continues to grow. These route and traffic cuts can be reversed but only when the Regional Government reintroduces its agreed growth incentives. Rest assured that Ryanair will keep trying.”

CANARY ISLAND 2012/13 ROUTE CUTS (21):

GR CANARIA (7)      LANZAROTE (6)                 TENERIFE (4)                      F’VENTURA (4)