Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
fight for slots
Ryanair cuts 5,000 flights and 19 routes from Lisbon
Rafael Ramos
3/10/2022
Ryanair threatened to cut flights in and out of Lisbon if the government did not release the slots held by Tap by March 4. Fulfilling its threats, the company announced, in a statement published on the 8th, that it was forced to reduce the number of aircraft based in Lisbon in the summer of 2022, leading to the cancellation of 5,000 flights and 19 routes, with 900,000 passengers affected.
Ryanair says it has made efforts to enlist the help of the Portuguese prime minister, Antonio Costa. However, the company was not responded to, causing it to downsize from 9 to just four Lisbon-based aircraft. The cut also caused 150 “well-paid” employees to be laid off.
At the end of last year, it was determined that TAP should make 18 slots available, free of charge, in exchange for receiving 2.55 billion euros in aid from the government of Portugal. Three Ryanair aircraft and 19 routes would return to Lisbon in October 2022, as the amount of slots would be enough for its winter schedule.
Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary says that TAP has reduced its fleet by 20%, but has released less than 5% of its Lisbon slots. According to O'Leary, this blocked the “growth of other airlines”.
In the statement, Ryanair said that the city of Lisbon will no longer earn 250 million euros in tourism in the summer of this year, adding that the post-covid recovery in Lisbon will be hampered.
TAP's restructuring is having high costs for the Portuguese taxpayer. A contest was opened to decide which airline would be the winner of the TAP slots, but the European Commission will only have the result in June.
Ross Parmly/Unsplash
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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