Ryanair makes good on threat to withdraw Lisbon slots

Ryanair (FR, Dublin Int’l) has made good on its threats to cut 19 routes from Lisbon this summer following delays in the release of unused airport slots by TAP Air Portugal (TP, Lisbon).

“Our last effort to request help from [Portugal’s] Prime Minister [António] Costa has fallen on deaf ears with zero reply. Sadly, Ryanair is now forced to reduce its fleet of aircraft from seven to four in Lisbon in Summer 2022, a loss of 150 highly paid aviation jobs, over 900,000 fewer passengers, and over EUR250 million euros (USD276 million) in lost tourism revenues for the city of Lisbon this summer,” announced Ryanair’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Michael O’Leary. “The loss of these 19 Lisbon routes and 5,000 flights this Summer means that Lisbon’s post-Covid recovery will now lag behind other major EU capital cities,” he said.

“These avoidable cancellations come after multiple attempts by Ryanair to request the Portuguese government to intervene to release these unused TAP S22 slots,” he added.

Ryanair’s hopes for a slot transfer in time for the summer season were quashed recently when it became clear that 18 available TAP slots would likely only be transferred in October to a winning bidder following a tender process that has only just started. A call for tenders went out on February 25. The European Commission is only expected to decide on the winning airline in June 2022.

Brussels in December last year determined that TAP would make 18 slots available, free of charge, in exchange for receiving EUR2.55 billion (USD2.85 billion) in restructuring aid from the Portuguese government.

Meanwhile, Ryanair said its three aircraft and 19 routes would return to Lisbon in October 2022 as it would then have sufficient slots for its reduced winter schedule.

The 19 routes affected this summer are:

Agadir and Oujda (Morocco);
Alghero, Bari, and Palermo (Italy);
Alicante, Lanzarote, Madrid Barajas, Tenerife, and Zaragoza (Spain);
Billund (Denmark;)
Birmingham Int’l and Bournemouth (United Kingdom;)
Baden-Baden and Memmingen (Germany;)
Malta Int’l;
Perpignan and Poitiers (France); and
Wroclaw (Poland).