SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Irish airline Ryanair has announced this Tuesday that at the end of March or the beginning of April it will launch two new bases at the Tenerife Sur and Lanzarote airports for the next summer campaign that will allow the creation of 120 direct and almost 2,000 indirect.
This was announced by the CEO of the company, Eddie Wilson, at a press conference accompanied by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, in which he stressed that there will be 70 routes with the islands, six of them new, with 520 weekly flights, 10% more.
The company has invested some 400 million euros and has a “clear commitment” to the archipelago, with the objective, in the medium and long term, of opening other bases in Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma, the Canarian president commented.
According to data provided by Ryanair, the airline brings some two million tourists to the islands a year, generating spending of some 1,400 million at the destination, ending up in hotels, bars, shops and sporting events.
To return to the Canary Islands after the closure of his previous bases, Wilson has stressed that Aena’s incentives “are important” and have been extended for the whole winter while by the Government of the Canary Islands, as revealed by the Minister of Tourism, Yaiza Castilla , it will be supported financially with the tasks of tourist promotion.
“The goal is for the seats to fill up and tourists to arrive,” he added.
He pointed out that since October direct State aid to airlines has been suppressed to attract new routes, although the Government has opened the Flight Development Fund with 18 routes for La Palma that could “be of interest” for Ryanair.
Torres has highlighted the “good data” on air occupancy that the company has presented to him for the remainder of the year and 2023 and highlighted its “commitment to sustainability” for operating with remote territories such as the Canary Islands, underlining the advantages of “working together in the hand” to make the archipelago a “21st century sustainable destination” that connects it with key European markets.
On the possibility of recovering the flights with La Palma, which ended in October, Wilson has indicated that “it is not on the table for now” although there are open conversations with Promotur since they are “aware of the disaster” that caused the volcanic eruption in the island and the need to reactivate the tourist market.
Questioned about the situation of the workers fired after the closure of the previous bases, he pointed out that they have already received their compensation, although he has acknowledged that the pandemic “delayed” the negotiations and there were different “interpretations” about the ERTE between the company and the workers. .
He has pointed out that the closure of the bases was caused by “lack of planes” but has made it clear that the Canary Islands have always been among the company’s priorities because “it has continued to fly” and opening new routes.
