Ryanair announced today the opening of 18 new routes in Portugal, Porto, and Faro next summer, and welcomed the regulator’s intervention that has led to the reduction in fees charged by ANA at Porto and Faro airports.
In a virtual press conference, the executive presidents of Ryanair group, Michael O’Leary, and the airline, Eddie Wilson, imbued with festive spirit, announced “Christmas gifts for Portugal,” with the opening of seven new routes from Faro and 11 from Porto next year.
According to officials, the decision came “in direct response to the intervention of ANAC [National Civil Aviation Authority], which forced ANA to reduce airport charges in Porto and Faro next year.” This decision represents an additional investment of EUR 400 million in Portugal and the creation of 120 new local jobs.
The Irish airline, however, lamented that the regulator “has not been able to persuade ANA to lower rates at other airports” and therefore “there will be no further growth in Lisbon, Madeira, and the Azores” in 2023.
In a statement, Eddie Wilson said:
“Lisbon fees have increased by an unbelievable 12%, and we have to reverse this climb, as in Porto and Faro. Lower rates lead to more planes, more jobs, more connectivity, and more tourism.”
From Faro, Ryanair will also fly to Aarhus (Denmark), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Exeter (England), Frankfurt Hahn (Germany), Rome Fiumicino (Italy), and Toulouse (France).
From Porto, new routes open to Bristol, Leeds (England), Castellon (Spain), Maastricht (Netherlands), Nimes, Strasbourg (France), Shannon (Ireland), Stockholm (Sweden), Trapani, Turin (Italy) and Wroclaw (Poland).
“In addition to excessive rates, another threat to the growth of tourism in Portugal arises in the form of ETS [environmental taxes] rates, which unfairly target short-haul flights, and it has recently been proposed the inclusion of the outermost regions of the European Union, including Madeira, as early as 2024,” said Michael O’Leary.
If this measure is approved, “tourists will face higher costs when visiting Madeira compared to other non-European holiday destinations, which means that the island will likely lose visitors to destinations outside the EU, such as Morocco, Turkey, and Jordan, which are exempt from paying For ETS.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
