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Alicante airport becomes latest casualty of Ryanair axed flights
The Irish airline is slashing flight routes across Spain to save money
Not only is budget airline Ryanair following through on its promise to axe dozens of routes throughout Spain that aren’t financially viable, it’s also just scrapped a Central European destination from one of the country’s most popular airports: Alicante-Elche.
The location on the chopping block is Maastricht, on the border with Germany. This Dutch city will no longer have flights to Alicante from October.
Echoing its complaints against Spanish airport management company Aena, Ryanair has blamed increases in airport costs and fees for this latest cancellation. A few months back, the Irish carrier also announced it was leaving Billund Airport due to the Dutch government’s tax on each passenger.
Norwegian has since taken over this route, but there’s no news yet as to whether the Maastricht flights will be covered by another airline.
The connection with Maastricht, which has become “one of the most expensive airports in Europe,” according to Ryanair, will cease operations on October 26, coinciding with the start of the low season in Alicante.
At the moment, Ryanair is the only carrier to fly from Alicante to Maastricht, running flights every Wednesday and Sunday. The Netherlands is one of the main markets for Alicante-Elche Airport and boasts excellent connectivity, which will increase in winter thanks to airlines such as Transavia, which recently announced more flights.
Ryanair claims that since 2021, the fees implemented by the Dutch have “increased by more than 275%, costing an additional €30 per passenger.”
"As a result of these excessive charges, Ryanair has cancelled all direct flights to Maastricht starting in October, losing 150,000 seats and five connections," the airline said, adding that its policy is now focused on airports that are reducing charges, such as Sweden, Italy and Poland.
"We are disappointed to announce this flight cancellation, which is due to the excessive rise in charges," explained Ryanair CCO Jason McGuinness.
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