Ryanair say that due to lack of support they will pull the routes in November

Ryanair has today announced that due to "lack of support" from the regional government of Murcia that it will be cancelling seven of the nine routes which operate out of San Javier airport between November and March.

It will maintain flights from London Stanstead and Dublin, cancelling services between Liverpool, Birmingham, Bournemouth, London Luton, East Midlands, Glasgow and Leeds Bradford.

There have  obviously been some fairly intense negotiations taking place recently reference levels of operating subsidies, as Ryanair made a point of complaining about a 3 million euro tourism promotion package agreed with Air Nostrum, which it claims have lost 23% of their traffic this last year, whilst Ryanair say theirs has increased by 13%.

They claim that the regional government has greeted their proposals for a workable solution with silence, and refused to be drawn on the nature of their negotiations, saying only that this was privileged business information which they would not discuss.

They made a point of reminding the region that the 76 International flights cancelled would leave the region 120,000 tourists short, which represented an approximate loss of income which could run as high as 60 million euros , based on average tourism spend figures, should the tourists choose to go elsewhere.

The spokesman, head of marketing and sales for Ryanair in Spain, said that formulas to maintain the routes had been discussed, but the lack of response from the regional government had forced them to arrive at this decision. He then went on to announce that Ryanair are opening three new routes- Malaga, Valencia and Barcelona, a poke in the ribs for the region to remind them that Ryanair can take their business where they choose.

 

This comes on top of the recent announcement that the airline is to be increasing operations in El Altet in Alicante, when the new terminal opens later this year.

 

Predictably, the PSOE slammed the announcement, criticizing the regional government for its ‘ failure to negotiate a settlement, calling the situation, " a severe blow for tourism."

Teresa Rosique insisted that the government should make the terms it finds unacceptable clear to the Regional Assembly, as the decision to cancel services represented a considerable loss to the region, and threatened a large number of jobs. She went on to emphasise the importance of the regional airport as the gateway to Murcia, and expressed an opinion that declining passenger numbers could threaten the future of the new Corvera Airport.

 

It's fairly normal for big companies with buying power to throw their weight around, and whether Ryanair will actually pull these services completely or not remains to be seen.

The company have publicly cancelled other routes before, and know that it makes little difference to them whether they land in San Javier or Alicante, it's unlikely to effect their balance sheets or passenger volume.

Murcia, however, can't afford to lose the tourism traffic, and have to decide whether the people coming in on these planes will choose another carrier and still come to Murcia, or opt for a different destination and follow the cheap flights.

That's the risk Murcia has to evaluate and assess in these negotiations.

Murcia is already showing a 20% reduction in passenger footfall this year on a cumulative basis, with just over half a million passenger arrivals to date, so the loss of 120,000 passengers will be a big blow to the airport, most of the traffic seemingly choosing to land in Alicante instead.

 

By threatening to pull the routes Ryanair obviously hope that the regional government will be more acquiescing to its' demands for "tourism promotion" subsidies, and  passengers will be watching  the battle of wills unravel, hoping that as normal, it won't be the man in the street who ends up paying the price for somebody elses profit margins,

.

 

Sources PSOE and EP

Back to News