Ryanair has announced its winter schedule for Vienna.
Details
In a statement published on corporate.ryanair.com, "Ryanair said, Ryanair [has] confirmed that it would operate its largest ever winter schedule from Vienna airport, even as Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines cancelled over 3,200 flights in November and December at short notice.
"The Austrian taxpayer will rightly question what value they are getting from the €600m in State Aid that they have given to this German Lufthansa subsidiary, which cut over 1,350 Austrian jobs, is planning more staff cuts, and has now cancelled thousands more flights in November and December, which were previously on sale.
"Ryanair will operate over 2,000 monthly low fare flights to/from Vienna this winter connecting Austrian's capital city to 57 destinations in 29 countries. With 14 Ryanair Group aircraft and over 450 crew members based in Vienna, Ryanair looks forward to offering Viennese consumers and visitors low fare city breaks or winter getaways to exciting destinations such as Amman, Athens, Barcelona, Milan, Mallorca, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, and London.
"Ryanair's Director of Commercial, Jason McGuinness, said, 'As other airlines in Vienna close routes and cancel 1,000s of flights at short notice, Vienna citizens and visitors can rely on Ryanair's largest ever winter flight schedule with 57 destinations in 29 countries on sale. Ryanair’s commitment to re-build Vienna's traffic and tourism industry will be further boosted in summer 2022 with 5 new aircraft delivering (a total of 90 routes) and creating over 200 new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers in Austria, even while Lufthansa Group cancels thousands of flights and cuts thousands of Austrian jobs, while it hoovers up Austrian State Aid.
"'Vienna citizens and visitors can now book a low fare winter getaway to Amman or enjoy a city break to London, Milan, Mallorca, Madrid, Lisbon and many more. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com to avoid missing out.'"
Flights Cancellations And Route Losses
In a separate statement also published on corporate.ryanair.com, Ryanair said, "Ryanair [has]confirmed it has been forced to cancel 700 flights and three Lisbon routes (to Tours, Oujda and Bari) this Winter due to TAP’s continued hoarding of take-off and landing slots (which TAP does not use) at Lisbon Portela Airport. This anti-competitive 'slot blocking' has prevented Ryanair from obtaining sufficient slots (despite the assistance of the slot coordinator and the airport operator), for planned new route growth. TAP's plan to cut its fleet by 20% means it simply cannot use all the slots it holds.
"These cancelled flights will damage Lisbon's connectivity and post-COVID recovery. The Portuguese Government and the European Commission must now intervene to end TAP’s anti-competitive 'slot blocking', free up this UNUSED capacity at Lisbon Portela and open Lisbon Montijo Airport to allow airlines to grow. It is essential that Portugal's critical national infrastructure is used to support the local economy and not abused to protect an inefficient zombie airline, which the Portuguese Government has already wasted €3bn of taxpayers' money on.
"Ryanair will keep all seven aircraft (a $700m investment) and crew in place in Lisbon this Winter to ensure it is ready and able to reinstate all flights if sufficient slots are freed up.
"Ryanair's Group CEO, Michael O'Leary, said, 'We deeply regret these unnecessary disruptions to passengers from these cancelled flights and routes caused by TAP's blocking of slots which it is not using. This anti-competitive slot blocking obstructs the growth of airlines and the recovery of traffic, tourism and jobs at Lisbon Portela Airport, to the detriment of Portuguese consumers.
"'Ryanair remains committed to working with our airport partner in Lisbon, to support Portugal’s tourism recovery and to rebuild connectivity after the COVID pandemic. We now call on the Portuguese Government and the European Commission to intervene to free up these unused slots at Lisbon Portela Airport and to urgently open Lisbon Montijo Airport.
"'Ryanair will continue to bring millions of new visitors to and from Portugal, investing in tourism and getting travel back to normal, with the widest choice and lowest fares.'"
© 2021 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
