Ryanair cuts Shannon flights by 21%
Ryanair, Ireland’s favourite airline today (8th Sept) announced a further 21% cut in its Shannon flights and traffic this winter in response to last week’s surprise decision by Shannon Airport to impose a further 33% increase in passenger fees from 1st November despite the fact that Shannon’s traffic has collapsed by more than 1m passengers from over 2.7m passenger in 2009 to under 1.6m passengers in 2010. The “triple whammy” of Shannon’s high costs, their refusal to extend Ryanair’s 5 year base deal, and the imposition of the Govt’s €10 tourist tax has devastated traffic, tourism and jobs at Shannon Airport and the Mid West region.
Ryanair believes that Shannon's response to this traffic collapse, which is to impose a further 33% cost increase (when inflation is zero), demonstrates how totally out of touch Shannon Airport is with current market reality, and how little they care about traffic, tourism or job development at Shannon.
Ryanair announced that from 1 November, its Shannon-Paris route (currently 4 rotations per week) will be closed, Ryanair's Shannon-Gatwick route will be cut from 7 to 6 rotations per week and Ryanair's Shannon-Stansted service will be cut from 13 to 11 rotations per week.
Impact of Shannon's 33% price hike on traffic and jobs
No of Routes Weekly Rotations Traffic (PA) Jobs
Pre SAA 33% cost inc 7 31 480,000 480
Post SAA 33% cost inc 6 24 375,000 380
Shannon Loss -1 -7 -105,000 -100
These further flight cuts at Shannon will reduce Ryanair's operation from 31 to 24 weekly rotations and reduce Ryanair's traffic at Shannon from over 480,000 to under 380,000 p.a.. This 21% reduction in Ryanair's Shannon traffic is a direct result of Shannon Airport's decision to increase fees by 33% from November when inflation is zero.
Announcing these further cuts in Shannon today, Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:
"It is clear that the Irish Government and the DAA monopoly, are determined to destroy Irish air traffic, Irish tourism and Irish jobs. In the two years since the Govt introduced a €10 tourist tax and ordered over 50% increases in DAA airport fees, traffic at the three main Irish airports (Dublin, Cork and Shannon) has plunged by 33% from over 30m to just 20m passengers. Ireland has lost 10m air passengers, over 10,000 jobs in airport and related services, and over €1 billion of lost tourism and visitor spend annually.
"In the year to April 2009 (before the Government's €10 tourist tax), Ryanair was on track to deliver 1.9m passengers at Shannon. Now just two years later, following the €10 tourist tax and 33% price hikes at Shannon, Ryanair's traffic will fall to less than 400,000, less than one fifth of what Ryanair's base was and could again be delivering.
"While the three Irish airports have lost 10m passengers in just two years, Ryanair has grown from 60m to 73.5m passengers annually. Ryanair has now overtaken Alitalia to become the No.1 airline in Italy and Iberia to become the No.1 airline in Spain, yet we are cutting flights and passengers in our home market Ireland.
"Irish air traffic and tourism can return to growth and prosperity, but only if there is a return to a low cost access policy and for this we recommend:
Scrapping the €10 tourist tax.
Reversing the DAA's 50% cost increases over the past two years.
Breaking up the DAA airport monopoly and selling off the constituent parts to pay off the DAA's €1.2bn debt.
Scrapping the PSO subsidies (which have wasted over €150m in the past 8 years funding non viable domestic air routes),
Scrap the unnecessary Dublin Airport Metro and save taxpayers the €5bn cost of yet another train system, which is not needed and won't be used by airport passengers.
Irelandcan return to traffic and tourism growth. Ryanair would be prepared to double its passenger numbers on/off the island of Ireland, but only if there is a return to a low cost access policy and an end to the failed policy of recent years of taxing tourists and raising airport fees to prop up what is I believe the insolvent DAA airport monopoly."