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Date Published: 16/12/2021

ARCHIVED - Ryanair resumes its 620 routes in Spain and expands maintenance hanger in Sevilla

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The low-cost airline’s CEO has warned “ticket prices are falling now, but in the long term they will go up”

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Ryanair resumes its 620 routes in Spain and expands maintenance hanger in Sevilla

Budget airline Ryanair has fully resumed its 620 routes in Spain “despite the ravages of the pandemic on tourism”, and inaugurated the expansion of a maintenance hangar in Sevilla for its planned European fleet of 600 aircraft, which will employ 250 new employees following an investment of 16 million euros.

But whilst fares have been slashed “to encourage people to travel”, in the long term “they will go up”, according to Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson.

“Next summer there will be fewer planes flying in Europe because airlines will downsize, some will go bankrupt and fares will go up, also because people will not fly to far away destinations like Vietnam or Sri Lanka, they are more likely to holiday in Europe,” he added.

Wilson claims that whilst the airline is back to “100% uptime”, most of its competitors are at 50 to 60%, “and have planes on the ground and unmaintained”.

And despite controversial policies such as charging passengers for extra seats or luggage, the low-cost airline claims the move is not putting travellers off, and the company remains a first choice ahead of its competitors.

“Our average fare is 37 euros for the 150 million passengers we carry, some pay 300 and some pay nine euros. Our competitors have a problem with that because if they add extras, they will increase the gap with us even more. It has taken us 30 years to maintain that leadership with a lot of hard work and minimising costs,” said Wilson.

And despite Ryanir’s hand luggage charges being condemned by several courts and even the EU Court of Justice, the airline stands by the policy.

“We fill the planes to 95 and 100%, there is not enough room for everyone’s bags on the plane, so you have to restrict it. It is impossible to have 185 people with bags in the cabin, it’s a security issue.”

Ryanair has previously forecast reaching 200 million passengers in Europe, despite the health crisis, but the CEO believes this figure could now be higher.

“It will be 225 million. It will get easier every year, we have recovered 100% of our flights and today alone we will fly 2,200 routes.”

And it’s hoped the expansion of the aircraft maintenance centre in Sevilla will play a major role in the airline’s recovery in Spain.

“We have acquired 210 new aircraft, bringing the total to 600, and they are overhauled every year. With this centre we can ensure that we check them ourselves, not a third party.

“The less time they are on the ground, the more time they spend in the air and the more productive they are. We already have facilities in Scotland, Lithuania and Italy and we needed to expand our capacity. In Sevilla, the aerospace industry professionals are already in place and the expansion will create jobs, it’s fabulous news,” said Wilson.

Images: Ryanair/Eddie Wilson Twitter

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