This is not the first time that Ryanair has closed a base in Europe. The process is always the same: after promising an airport the best in return for financial incentives, the Irish airline is always quick to close one of its bases, as soon as the airport mentions a tax increase. Bordeaux is no exception.
Back in March, Ryanair announced its intentions for Bordeaux. The company deplored a " doubling of charges" . "Three of our aircraft are based there, our business is doing very well and we have a lot of good people there. But if the airport's answer is to ask us to pay twice as much, the answer is no", insisted Michael O'Leary, the head of the company. The airport was optimistic at the timeindicating that negotiations would continue. The failure is now obvious.
In a press release, Ryanair has announced that it will close its Bordeaux base in November (an investment loss of $300m) following the failure of negotiations with Bordeaux Airport over the extension of Ryanair's low-cost services. Due to rising costs in Bordeaux from November 2024, Ryanair will relocate its three Bordeaux-based aircraft. to less expensive airports elsewhere in Europe.
The company states that this departure will result in the closure of 40 Ryanair routes to and from Bordeaux. It will also mean the loss of more than 90 jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers based in Bordeaux. According to Ryanair Commercial Director Jason McGuinness, " The loss of Bordeaux will be a gain for other airports across Europe, and we have already started discussions with our Bordeaux-based pilots, cabin crew and engineers to offer them similar positions at other attractive Ryanair bases across Europe from November 2024."
Ryanair in Bordeaux
This summer, Ryanair is flying from Bordeaux :
- France: Figari, Marseille.
- Spain: Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Menorca, Palma, Tenerife, Seville, Valencia.
- Ireland and United Kingdom: Cork, Dublin, Birmingham, Edinburgh, London-Stansted, Manchester.
- Italy: Alghero, Bari, Bergamo, Naples, Pisa, Rome, Trapani, Venice.
- Morocco: Agadir, Fez, Marrakech, Tangiers.
- Portugal: Faro, Lisbon, Porto.
- Other destinations in Europe: Brussels-Charleroi, Krakow, Malta, Paphos, Prague, Zadar.
On this list, some lines will probably be taken over by Ryanair aircraft based outside Bordeaux. This could be the case for certain flights to Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. In addition, 18 destinations on the Ryanair network are served by the competition (Barcelona, Dublin, Fez, Ibiza, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Marrakech, Menorca, Palma, Porto, Tenerife, Dublin, Naples, Rome and Venice). All in all, the network of destinations departing from Bordeaux could be cut by around fifteen routes. A figure significant enough to have an impact on passenger traffic...
