Ryanair reducing Malta-Girona frequency
French city stops subsidies to low-cost carrier
Ryanair is to reduce the frequency of its Malta-Girona service to two flights a week instead of three as from May 1, informed sources said.
Flights will be operated on Saturdays and Tuesdays, with the Irish low-cost carrier dropping its Thursday flight.
Ryanair is reducing services from Girona because of disagreements over subsidies for the use of that airport. Malta has been among the destinations least affected. The airline has cancelled 18 routes and reduced services to another 17 destinations. Five Ryanair aircraft which used to be based there have been moved elsewhere. The airline blamed the new regional government of Catalonia for not honouring the recent five-year agreement for the airline to base aircraft there.
In a similar situation, a French city has announced that it is ending the subsidies it pays Ryanair to maintain flights there because the Irish low-cost airline's demands are "intolerable and amount to blackmail".
The chamber of commerce in Pau, which runs the southwestern city's airport, informed Ryanair of its decision "not to pay another penny in fees," said chamber official Christian Cloux.
Ryanair had asked Pau to hike its subsidies from €1.4 million a year to €1.5 million if it wanted to maintain flights to Britain, Belgium and Paris, he said, calling the demand "financial blackmail."
"The situation had become intolerable," he told AFP.
Cloux said it was now up to the airline to decide if it wanted to maintain its routes or not, and added that low-cost airlines CityJet and Flybe were starting up routes from Pau without being promised any subsidies.
He said that if Ryanair services from Pau ceased when its contract expires in April, this could cause a "small drop in traffic" but this would be "quickly compensated" for by other services and would not impact on jobs.
The airline said earlier this month that it would reopen most of the routes from the French city Marseille which it shut in protest at being prosecuted over its employment practices.
Ryanair in January abandoned its base at Marseille airport in protest over French prosecutors' refusal to drop charges against it for hiring workers on Irish contracts, which they said breached labour laws.
The company cut 13 routes from Marseille to destinations in Europe and Morocco, served by four aircraft based in the French city. But it continued to run 10 routes to and from the airport by planes based elsewhere.
But Ryanair later said it would reopen routes and get around the court ruling by not basing its planes in Marseille on a permanent basis and by regularly changing the pilots and air crew working on the reopened routes.
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David S.Rizzo
Aug 18th 2011, 00:37
Ghalhekk tajjeb li ma tipprivatizzax kollox. Flok naghtu is sussidji, ahjar nghinu lil kumpanija maltija, ghax probabli dawn l istess haga ha jipprovaw jaghmlu hawn, u mbad jimminaccawna li jekk ma nhalsux jitilqu (bhal ma taghmel dik il fabrika tal micro electronics... insejt x jisimha, kull sena timminacca li titlaq, u l gvern itiha biex ma jkollux balla nies bla xoghol).
Ahna bit turismu nghixu, ahjar ikollna bazi soda.
J.Scicluna - Rabat
Feb 20th 2011, 02:44
A glimpse of things to come also here in Malta! Once Ruinair builds the critical mass it needs...they'll start squeezing us till our eyeballs pop out of their sockets!
j galea
Feb 18th 2011, 18:12
sur camilleri mid dehra tieghek tghix malta imma tantx titlaq il barra minn hawn. ghax kienet l-airmalta li wara li rreklamat flights bi special offer ghal genoa is sena l-ohra, xi gimaghtejn qabel kitbet lil passigieri biex tinfurmahom li il flights gew cancelled ghax ma kellhiex bizzejjed passiggieri. u meta fetlilha, l airmalta qabdet u qatet rotot bhal glasgow u portugal. fuq kollox kull hadd suppost ghal profit jahdem u mhux karita u hadd m'ghandu jippretendi li xi hadd jaghmel xi pjacir lil xi hadd. jew li il-maltin ihallsu prezzijiet gholjin biex jaghmlu tajjeb ghal vjaggar tal ministri, ex chairmen etc. is sussidji lil low cost qed jinghataw minn parti mill budget tal MTA li qabel kien jintuza biex jirreklamaw Malta barra. bis-sahha li ghandha ir Ryanair fl-Ewropa, huwa zgur aktar investiment ghaqli li tuza is-site tar Ryanair bhal reklam ghal Malta milli titfa reklam fuq bus stop barra u meta it-turist jipprova jigi isib li jew il flight ta l-Airmalta tieqaf x'imkien on the way u l-flight kollha tiegu xi 5 sieghat qisek sejjer l-Amerika jew issib xi prezz fenominali biex tigi weekend break Malta.
J Camilleri.
Feb 18th 2011, 19:04
Sur Galea , kompli uza ir Ryanair habib, u oqod attent li ma jikdmukx bhal ma ghamlu lil hafna u jekk jitilqu min ghawn kif ghamlu Franza u Germania ara biex ha siefer min Malta jekk ikollok bzonn.
j galea
Feb 18th 2011, 12:40
sur camilleri lairmalta ilha ittir bajruplani vojta minn qabel malta issiebhet flEU, hafna qabel gew il low cost airlines
dik strategija! l-airmalta titlob prezzijiet fenominali li hafna drabi kienu vicin Euro 460 kull persuna, il maltin ihallsu dawn il prezzjijiet u forsi jaffordjaw safra fis sena, it turizmu mar il bahar ghax turisti mhux ha jaghzlu li jhallsu Euro 460 meta jistghu imorru postijiet ohra b' 20 euros, l-airmalta ittir b'ajruplani vojta, nuqqas ta business ghal tat taxis, restaurants, hotels etc.
mela biex insalwaw il jobs ta l-airmalta, li hafna minnhom kienu biss frott ta decizjonijiet hziena ta gvernijiet u chairmen, noqtlu lil tal lukandi, restaurants. taxis, had bil guh
qabel f'malta ma kontx tara turist spanjol wiehed, ghax l-airmalta kienet tmur biss fis sajf bi prezzijiet fenominali. issa minndu bdew ir ryanair malta mifqugha bl ispanjoli.u maltin li qabel qatt ma siefru, issa saru imorru anki tlett darbiet fis -sena.
John CamilleriF
Feb 18th 2011, 13:53
Mr galea are you living in Malta siehbi, ma intiex infurmat sew ghax ghax qabel ma gew ir-Low cost diga kienu gew iktar min Miljun Turist, Min,gabhom dawn mela, u taqodx tajjad hafna ghax kien hemm min hallas dawk il flus biex tar mal low cost. U anki fuq is-seats vojta zbaljat..Il low cost jekk ma jbijhux is-seats ihasru il-flight , dawn ma ghandomx ir-regoli tal IATA ghalura jaghmlu li jridu u oqghod hu gost min butek halsilhom is-susidju mit Taxxi biex jigu ghawn habib.
john b Camilleri
Feb 18th 2011, 08:33
Don't expect better from Ryanair, in English we say "You pay peanuts and u get Monkeys,"
and our government is Jeopardising our national Airline to safeguard such Airlines. SHAME.
Antonia Bartolo
Feb 18th 2011, 10:06
I agree with you 100% Mr Camilleri. For many Ryanair was Malta salvation for tourism but for their information it walks out as soon as one stands up for its blackmailing.
C Cassar
Feb 18th 2011, 06:27
Ryanair simply can't compete with other airlines unless it gets subsidised by local government. The other airlines don't get these subsidies and yet still manage to provide a good priced service from the same destinations.
Good for the French to stand up to Ryan Air's blackmail attempts. Now the other airlines are moving in to take their services. Hopefully this will also take place in Malta in the very near future.