Lisbon hub

Ryanair reportedly negotiating Lisbon hub

Ryanair is looking at challenging Easyjet’s ‘monopoly’ of low-cost air space at Lisbon airport by setting up a base of its own in the Portuguese capital.

While this is not the first occasion the Irish budget airline has expressed an interest in Lisbon, it has now been seemingly rekindled following the privatisation of Portuguese airport operator ANA, which is now in the hands of French-owned company Vinci.
Speaking at a press conference this week at Lisbon airport, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary said he was looking to operate 14 routes out of Lisbon starting in the winter of 2014. Ryanair will have eight aircraft based at Portela if the carrier can agree terms.
“We are in talks with Vinci over a proposal for Lisbon, which is an airport that continues to charge extremely high taxes”, explained Michael O’Leary.
The charismatic Ryanair supremo said the airline would increase passenger numbers by four million a year should it reach an agreement with Vinci. This rise is more than two-thirds the entire traffic at Faro Airport in the south.
Michael O’Leary also called for the expansion of Terminal 2, which is currently mostly used for flights by Easyjet, saying it would be essential to do this considering the plans Ryanair have in store for Lisbon.
Continuing his ‘downgrading’ of Lisbon airport, he said it had the worst passenger/population ratio of all European capitals. He argued Ryanair’s proposal will allow for a boost in traffic and “bring Lisbon in line with other European capitals.”
Mr. O’Leary also lashed out at TAP, saying the national flag carrier charges an average fare which is 300 percent more than Ryanair, whose average, before taxes, is 53 euros.
He also forecast the end of TAP if it failed in its bid to seek out a new buyer, explaining the best option for the airline would be tobe absorbed by IAG (British Airways and Iberia).
Michael O’Leary, who was in Portugal to celerbrate the company’s passenger number 15 million, presented a proposal to ANA last April to create a base in Lisbon, but negotiations soon stalled.
Ryanair currently has two bases in Portugal (Faro and Oporto) who together last year were responsible for the transport of 3.5 million passengers. The aim for 2013 is to increase this number by around ten percent.
In order to atttain this growth target, Michael O’Leary said he was in talks with Algarve tourism authorities to boost winter golf holidays.
Last week, a campaign was launched which allowed passengers who book a January, February or March golf break to Faro, from Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow Prestwick, Liverpool, London Stansted, Manchester and Dublin, before the end of the month, to bring their golf bag for free, translating into a saving of €100 on a return flight.
Ryanair celebrated this “Clubs Fly Free” promotion by releasing Faro seats from just £30 (€40) one-way for travel in the first three months of the year.
“Ryanair has cut the cost of golf breaks to the Algarve in January, February and March with a winning combination of Europe’s ultra-low fares and free golf clubs carriage”, Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara, said.