RYANAIR, El Altet’s largest carrier, has announced the imminent cancellation of 57 direct flights from Alicante linking a number of European cities, representing a 40% reduction in service affecting around 2.5 million passengers.
The move is the result of Ryanair’s battle with airport authority AENA’s insistence that the airline board passengers via air bridges and not from the ground. Ryanair protests that boarding passengers via air bridges affects their impressive 25 minute turnaround and also their ‘no frills’ service, and would result in pushing up fares.
The most significant cancellations will inconvenience 1,000 passengers per week using the Alicante – Zaragoza route. The reduction from 11 to 2 aircraft this winter (5 aircraft based in winter 2010), reduces passenger traffic at El Altet from 4m passengers p.a. to 1.5m.
OUTRAGE
Outraged passengers have begun a petition to persuade AENA to reverse its decisions concerning the use of air bridges in order to enable the airline to restore service to the routes affected that include Murcia, Logroño, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Santander, Valladolid, Palma, Pisa, Venice, Paris, Poznan, Fez and Marrakesh with more to come.
Ryanair will ground 80 of the 300 aircraft that make up its fleet to implement the reduction in service, having a devastating impact on staffing in Alicante, one of its major bases in Europe.
SAFETY
The row that prompted Ryanair’s drastic decision to cut its service out of El Altet ignited with AENA’s ruling that passengers at El Altet could only be boarded from the ground during the winter season due to passenger safety being compromised by heavy summer ground traffic. Ryanair strongly refutes that passenger safety is the issue and contends that AENA’s motives for enforcing the use of air bridges are purely financial.
AENA stubbornly claims that tests carried out in May confirm an “unacceptable risk” to passengers boarding from the tarmac in the summer.
UNLAWFUL
Ryanair’s Head of Communications Stephen McNamara, speaking to RTN exclusively on Tuesday, points out that AENA’s actions are not only impractical but also unlawful. And the airline’s unprecedented trimming of its Alicante service is estimated to represent a staggering €30 million loss in revenue in the area and hundreds of job losses. “AENA should explain why there is no safety issue with Ryanair’s walk on/walk off procedures at 20 other AENA airports in Spain or at over 140 other EU airports Ryanair flies to,” he said.
As the economic climate forces seatbelts tighter, Costa Blanca passengers relying on low-budget flights will be forced to consider more expensive alternatives, while Ryanair remains adamant that passenger safety is in no way compromised and continues to fight AENA through the courts over the air bridge issue.
Source:RTN