News From Around The EuroZone

Richard Maslen February 24, 2011

RYANAIR CUTS FLIGHTS FROM GIRONA BUT EXPANDS INTO VILNIUS

Irish budget carrier Ryanair is to cut 18 of its routes and reduce frequencies on 17 more from its Barcelona Girona base following a major disagreement with the new Catalonian government. However, the airline will continue to serve the airport as well as El Prat, the main gateway to Spain’s second largest city. According to an executive at Ryanair, the new regional government, which oversees operations at Girona, had “refused to honour” a five-year extension of its operational partnership agreed with the outgoing politicians in December last year. “We reached agreement on a five year extension of our base operation at Girona Airport under which Ryanair agreed to base 11 aircraft, operate 64 routes and deliver 4 million passengers per annum. which would sustain up to 4,000 jobs in and around Girona Airport. However, the new Government has refused to honour the agreement despite being consulted on it by the outgoing Government,” he said. Ryanair will now relocate the five additional Boeing 737-800s to other bases from the end of February and will result in the closure of routes to Aarhus, Dusseldorf Weeze, Gdansk, Hamburg Lubeck, Ibiza, Kristianstad, Lanzarote, Lille, London Gatwick, Madrid, Oslo Torp, Perugia, Plovdiv, Poitiers, Seville, Szczecin, Tenerife and Vasteras. Meanwhile, Ryanair will begin flights from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, offering daily flights to London Stansted; three-times weekly services to Dublin, Milan Bergamo and Rome Ciampino and twice weekly links to Barcelona Girona from May 2011. The airline says the growth in the Baltic States is to counter moves from low-cost rival Wizz Air to expand its presence in this market. The new flights from Vilnius to Barcelona Girona and Milan Bergamo will mean the cancellation of Ryanair’s existing schedules to the two airports from Kaunas, says the airline.

NORWEGIAN INCREASES OFFERING FROM STOCKHOLM

Nordic budget carrier Norwegian is to more than double capacity on the Stockholm Arlanda – Malmo route this summer. The airline will boost its weekly frequencies on the domestic link from 14 to 32 from May 2, providing more than 2,500 additional seats every week. This a major move against SAS Scandinavian Airlines which is currently the market leader carrying almost 95 per cent of the 327,000 O&D passengers that travelled on the route in 2010. SAS currently offers up to 40 flights per week between the two Swedish cities. Norwegian will also increase its flights from Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick from 12 to 18 per week from the same date. Although it faces no direct competition on the route British Airways (BA) and SAS both serve the Swedish airport from Heathrow and BA’s regional subsidiary BA CityFlyer has flights from London City.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS

Belgium’s largest airport is set for its busiest summer after announcing further expansion of its international network. The airport handled 1.1 million passengers in January, 8.3 per cent up on the same month last year and this growth is expected to be sustained through the year thanks to new services. Already this year Qatar Airways has inaugurated flights from Doha and easyJet from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport but from the start of the Northern Summer schedules at the end of March, six airlines will introduce new flights from the facility, including its first ever links to Podgorica in Montenegro and Jönköping in Sweden. These new routes comprise Belle Air offering a three-times weekly flight to Tirana; budget carrier Blue Air launching a twice weekly link to the Romanian city of Bacau; Montenegro Airlines launching a Brussels – Podgorica link; Jetairfly adding twice-weekly rotations to Pristina and Tirana in June; regional carrier Skyways providing ten flights per week to Jönköping and Air Nostrum flying three-times weekly to Vigo and twice weekly to San Sebastian in partnership with Iberia. As well as these services many existing airlines are increasing capacity including the use of larger aircraft on the long-haul routes of United Airlines to Newark and Washington and Air Canada to Montreal, and more frequencies from Etihad Airways on its Abu Dhabi route.

WIZZ AIR LAUNCHES FLIGHTS FROM SKOPJE

Central and Eastern European low-cost carrier Wizz Air is to launch its first flights from Skopje’s Alexander The Great Airport in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The budget venture will inaugurate a three-times weekly service to London Luton from June 20, bringing the number of routes it now serves from the UK airport to 22. Wizz Air is currently the only airline scheduled to operate from Skopje to the UK, a market of around 26,000 O&D passengers in the year ending December 2010.

THY EXPANDS NETWORK IN ITALY

Turkish Airlines (THY) is to launch flights to three further Italian destinations from its Istanbul Atatürk base this year increasing its network in the country to seven destinations. It will add a three-times weekly schedule to Genoa from May 4 (rising to five per week from June 27); a three-times weekly Naples link from June 28 (up to five per week from August 3) and a three-times weekly Turin connection from August 2. THY will be the sole operator to Genoa and Naples, although it will compete with Alitalia on the Turin route. With the addition of these routes, THY will this year offer up to 80 weekly services between Turkey and India, adding to its existing flights to Milan Malpensa, Rome, Venice and Bologna. In the year ending December 2010 approximately 924,000 O&D passengers travelled between Turkey and Italy.

CYPRUS AIRWAYS ON THE BRINK ?

The Cypriot Finance Minister has warned that the Mediterranean country’s national carrier, Cyprus Airways, could be forced out of business unless it secures emergency cash injection within the next two months. The government is trying to secure €20 million from the European Commission for the additional costs it incurs routing its aircraft away from Turkish airspace. "We have no choice," said Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis. "If there is any delay in giving this amount the company will close at the end of April, with destructive consequences for tourism and the economy." Cyprus Airways is the largest operator from the country providing scheduled links to more than 20 destinations across Europe and the Gulf regions offering over 127 weekly flights and providing over 18,000 seats into the island’s two airports - Larnaca and Paphos -every week. However, the funding alone may not be enough to safe the embattled national carrier, warned Charilaos Stavrakis. “There are no guarantees or certainty that these millions will solve the problems forever,” he said after the House Finance Committee examined the government’s request to release the funds. “Outside factors are unpredictable and there are serious concerns that the airline’s future is doubtful. But weighing the very negative consequences its closure will have on the economy, we need to try and keep it afloat.”

CARPATAIR TO LAUNCH IASI – ROME SERVICE

Romanian regional carrier Carpatair is to inaugurate an Iasi – Rome service during the Northern Summer. The route will be operated twice weekly with a Fokker 70 from April 21, increasing to three-times weekly between June 30 to September 18. Carpatair already serves the municipality in the Moldavia region of north-eastern Romania from Timisoara, while Tarom offers flights to the capital Bucharest and Austrian Airlines provides the only other international link to Vienna.

NIMES SECURES INTERNATIONAL LINKS TO SPAIN AND ITALY

Nimes lès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport in the Provence region of France has secured scheduled air links to Italy and Spain for this summer, adding to its existing year-round flights by Ryanair to Belgium and the UK. From April 18, Eagle Airlines will launch a twice weekly service to Forli, providing links into the Emilia Romagna and Tuscany regions, while from July 23 Air Nostrum will begin a weekly rotation to Palma de Mallorca in partnership with Spanish flag carrier Iberia. These additional scheduled flights will also provide access to Catania, Ibiza, Menorca and Valencia through onward connections. Nimes currently has links to Brussels Charleroi and London Luton, while a seasonal flight to Liverpool John Lennon will be launched a month earlier than usual, from March 2. To enhance its service for business travellers, Nimes Airport has also recently opened its Espace Confort product, a VIP lounge with quick access to the boarding lounge. The facility is mainly for use of those travelling on private and corporate flights but can be accessed by all passengers for a fee.

AIR BERLIN TO LAUNCH BERLIN – LINZ CONNECTION

German carrier airberlin is to commence flights on June 1 to Linz, connecting the state capital of upper Austria directly with its hub in Berlin. The airline will offer flights five days per week and will also provide onward connections to its Palma de Mallorca mini-hub in the Balearic islands. "By adding Linz to our flight schedule, we are increasing our Austrian destinations to six," said Christian Peter, Director of Route Management, airberlin. "airberlin is now creating the first alternative connection for the economically important region of upper Austria to all major German cities as well as Scandinavia. As well as tourism, we believe this connection also offers tremendous potential for business travellers." Over 6,000 O&D passengers travelled on indirect services between Berlin and Linz in the year ending December 2010 and with competitive fares targeting the leisure market, airberlin is forecasting strong numbers on the route.

EASYJET EXPANDS IN SCOTLAND

UK budget carrier easyJet is to expand its network in Scotland by utilising an additional aircraft at its Edinburgh base and replacing one of its existing Glasgow-based aircraft with a larger 180-seat Airbus A320. The new deployments will create over 60 additional jobs and will boost annual capacity by around 340,000 seats per year. The airline will launch flights from Edinburgh to Athens, Grenoble and Tenerife from September, as well as launching flights to Aberdeen from its London Gatwick base. However, just to the south of the border it has emerged that the airline will suspend its Newcastle – London Stansted link at the end of March, six months after it originally planned to drop the route.

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