CALL ON URSULA VON DER LEYEN TO TAKE ACTION AND PROTECT EU OVERFLIGHTS DURING REPEATED ATC STRIKES

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, has today (5^th June) called on the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during the French ATC strike taking place today, Mon 5^th and tomorrow, Tues 6^th June.

In the past 5 months of 2023, there has been 58 days of ATC strikes (over 11 times more than in 2022). These repeated ATC strikes have unfairly forced airlines to disproportionately cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland while France in particular, uses Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic/short-haul flights while cancelling overflights. This is unfair. France (and all other EU states) should use Minimum Service Laws to protect overflights during ATC strikes as they do in Greece, Italy and Spain.

Last week, Ryanair delivered its ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office, having collected more than 1.1 million signatures from fed-up passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes. Despite this, EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has unsurprisingly done nothing to protect these passengers as hundreds more EU overflights are cancelled again due to the French ATC strike taking place today and tomorrow.

We call on the EU Commission, under Ursula von der Leyen to:

– Respect the strike rights of ATC unions, but

– Protect 100% of overflights (like Greece, Italy & Spain) during national ATC strikes

– If ATC strikes require cancellations, then allocate these to domestic/short-haul flights to/from the affected State

– Enforce binding arbitration for ATC disputes before strike action

– Require a 21-day notice of strike action

– Require a 72h notice of employee participation in ATC strikes to minimise passenger disruption

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“Last week, Ryanair delivered our ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office, having collected more than 1.1 million signatures from fed-up passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes.

It is utterly unacceptable that Ursula von der Leyen is ignoring these more than 1.1 million passengers, who are sick and tired of having their overflights cancelled at short notice due to repeated ATC strikes. As a result, hundreds more overflights are being disproportionately cancelled by yet another French ATC strike taking place today, 5^th and tomorrow, 6^th June.

It is completely impermissible that ATC strikes can result in the cancellation of thousands of EU passengers’ flights, while France and other EU Member States use Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic flights. If ATC unions insist on striking, which is their right, then they should cancel flights to/from the affected State and protect overflights, not cancel EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK.

The EU Commission must now take urgent action and insist that all States protect overflights during ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain.”

    Ryanair Holdings plc today (Fri, 2 Jun) released May 2023 traffic stats as follows:

Ryanair, the UK and Europe’s no. 1 airline, today (01 Jun) celebrated 35 million passengers in its 35 years of operations at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Ryanair was the first low-cost airline to operate at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, starting with its first flight from Dublin Airport back in 1988 bringing low fares to Liverpool citizens/visitors.

Ryanair’s Liverpool Summer ‘23 schedule will deliver:

• 1 new based aircraft (4 total)
• $400m investment
• 31 routes, incl. 4 new – Ibiza, Madrid, Rome & Shannon
• Over 255 flights per week
• Increased frequencies on 7 routes – Alicante, Cork, Dublin, Knock, Paris, Reus & Tenerife
• 15% capacity growth (vs S22)
• Supporting over 1,500 jobs, incl.120 direct jobs

This summer, Ryanair operates its biggest ever summer schedule at Liverpool John Lennon Airport with over 255 weekly flights across 31 routes incl. new sunshine destinations, like Ibiza and Madrid as well as increased frequencies on 7 popular Liverpool routes incl. Alicante, Paris, Reus, and Tenerife, offering its Liverpool customers unbeatable choice at the lowest fares when booking their summer ’23 getaways and driving invaluable inbound tourism for the region at the same time.

To celebrate 35 years and 35 million passengers at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, as well as Ryanair’s record-breaking Liverpool schedule for Summer ‘23, the airline has launched a special seat sale with fares from £29.99 for travel until end of Oct ‘23, available only at www.ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan said:

“We are delighted to celebrate 35 years and 35 million Ryanair passengers at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, with our 35millionth passenger departing this morning on our popular Porto route – just one of the 31 routes we are operating as part of our biggest ever schedule this summer.

Ryanair has operated at Liverpool John Lennon Airport since 1988 and our record Summer ’23 schedule will not only provide Liverpool’s customers/visitors with an unbeatable selection of sunny hotspots and vibrant European city break destinations this Summer, particularly across Belgium, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Sweden where we operate exclusively to/from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, but will continue to promote important regional development through the support of over 1,500 local jobs, and delivery of even greater connectivity with Europe and its millions of holidaymakers.

To celebrate this phenomenal milestone, we have launched a special seat sale with fares from just £29.99 for travel until the end of Oct ’23 available only on Ryanair.com.”

Robin Tudor, Head of PR & Communications at Liverpool John Lennon Airport added:

“Ryanair were the first low-cost airline to operate from Liverpool and for 35 years they have been giving the region’s passengers the opportunity to travel to a host of popular overseas destinations from their local faster, easier, friendlier, airport of choice at some of the lowest air fares around. This continues today as we gear up for the busy summer holiday period and look forward to welcoming thousands of Ryanair passengers over the coming weeks.”

Ryanair, Hungary’s No. 1 airline, today (1^st June) welcomes a ruling by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest, which annulled the bogus fine of €763,000 raised by the Hungarian CPA in August 2022 after Ryanair passed the Hungarian Govt’s “excess profit” tax of €10 per departing passenger to consumers. At the time, Ryanair condemned this “excess profit” tax when the main airlines in Hungary (including Ryanair) were reporting record Covid-related losses.

In a ruling last week, the Metropolitan Court of Budapest annulled this bogus fine, and confirmed that Ryanair could lawfully pass on this tax to consumers, and that Ryanair’s procedural rights had been “violated”. The Hungarian Court’s ruling is in line with EU law, which guarantees all airlines the freedom to set prices and pass on retrospective taxes to consumers.

Ryanair welcomes this ruling, which reverses this absurd and politically motivated fine.

Ryanair’s Chief Legal Officer, Juliusz Komorek, said:

“We welcome this ruling by the Hungarian Courts, which properly reflects EU law, which guarantees airlines the freedom to set prices and pass on retrospective taxes, even in cases such as this where there was no lawful basis for the Hungarian Govt’s bogus “excess profits” tax of €10 per departing passenger, at a time when all EU airlines were losing money due to Covid.

Ryanair believes that this Hungarian CPA fine was politically motivated, and calls on the Justice Minister, Judit Varga, to apologise for her Facebook post which welcomed the imposition of this politically motivated but bogus fine, which has now been annulled by the Hungarian Courts.

Ryanair continues to invest in Hungary, and continues to offer low fare air travel to/from Hungary for both Hungarian citizens and visitors. The clarity provided by this Hungarian Court ruling will help us to continue to invest in and grow our traffic in Hungary for the benefit of Hungarian citizens, their families, and the Hungarian tourism industry.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (30 May) celebrated 20 years of operations in Faro with its biggest ever summer schedule of 47 routes incl. 8 new routes to Aarhus, Barcelona, Belfast, Copenhagen, Exeter, Frankfurt, Rome, and Toulouse and increased frequencies on 12 routes incl. Cologne, Dublin, Madrid, Marseille, Milan, Newquay, Shannon, and more. This record schedule will see Ryanair base 10 aircraft in Faro for Summer ‘23 ($1bn investment) and support over 3,000 aviation jobs incl. 300 direct jobs.

Ryanair’s Faro Summer ‘23 schedule will deliver:

• 10 based aircraft ($1bn investment) incl. 2 new Boeing 737 Gamechangers
• 47 total routes incl. 8 new routes Aarhus, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Rome, Toulouse, and more
• 520+ flights per week
• 20% growth on S22
• 3.5m passengers to/from Faro p.a.
• 3,000 jobs incl. 300 direct jobs

Ryanair will operate over 520 weekly flights for Summer 2023 (20% growth on S22) giving Faro’s citizens/visitors the widest choice at the lowest fares in Europe when booking their Summer ‘23 getaways while growing both inbound tourism and jobs. This unrivalled growth is underpinned by Ryanair’s $1bn investment in Faro Airport, with 10 based aircraft and supporting over 3,000 jobs in the region.

To celebrate 20 years of flying to/from Faro customers and visitors can now book a well-deserved Summer getaway at the lowest fares from just €29.99 one way for travel until Oct ‘23, only available on the Ryanair.com website.

Country Manager for Spain & Portugal, Elena Cabrera said:

“As Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair is delighted to celebrate 20 years of operations in Faro with the launch of our biggest ever schedule for Summer ’23, with 47 exciting routes incl. 8 new routes to Aarhus, Barcelona, Belfast, Copenhagen, Exeter, Frankfurt, Rome, and Toulouse. This new schedule is underpinned by Ryanair’s commitment to Faro, basing 10 aircraft at Faro Airport ($1bn investment) and supporting over 3,000 jobs incl. 300 direct jobs.

Efficient operations and competitive airport charges provide the foundation from which Ryanair can deliver long-term

traffic growth and increased connectivity. We have worked closely with our partners in Faro Airport to secure this growth and improve services for those that live, work, or wish to visit the Algarve.

To celebrate 20 years of Ryanair flying to/from Faro we are offering seats available from just €29.99 one way for travel until Oct ’23 at www.Ryanair.com.”

“PROTECT OVERFLIGHTS – KEEP EU SKIES OPEN”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (31^st May) delivered its ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office, having collected more than 1.1 million signatures from fed-up passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes.

In the first 5 months of 2023, there have been 57 days of ATC strikes (10 times more than 2022) forcing airlines to disproportionately cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland while France in particular, uses Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic/short-haul flights while disproportionately cancelling overflights. France (and all other EU states) should copy the example of Spain, Italy and Greece all of whom use Minimum Service Laws to protect overflights during ATC strikes. If this means that a greater number of domestic or short-haul flights are cancelled, then so be it, but flights over France must be protected during French ATC strikes.

Ryanair calls on the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen to act on the petition of more than 1.1 million EU passengers, and demand that all EU States protect overflights during ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain. We call on the EU Commission, under Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership to:

• Respect the strike rights of ATC unions, but
• Protect 100% of overflights (like Greece, Italy & Spain) during national ATC strikes
• If ATC strikes require cancellations, then allocate these to domestic/short-haul flights to/from the affected State
• Enforce binding arbitration for ATC disputes before strike action
• Require a 21-day notice of strike action
• Require a 72h notice of employee participation in ATC strikes to minimise passenger disruption

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“Today, just 10 weeks since we launched our ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition, we delivered over 1.1 million signatures from fed-up EU citizens calling on the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen to protect overflights during repeated ATC strikes. It is unacceptable that ATC strikes can result in the cancellation of thousands of EU passengers’ flights, while France and other EU Member States use Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic flights.

Europe’s passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes. The EU Commission must now act upon the petition of more than 1.1 million EU citizens and insist that all states protect overflights during national ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy and Spain.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No 1 airline, has today (25^th May) announced that it has added extra flights ahead of this year’s highly anticipated UEFA Europa Conference League Final between West Ham and Fiorentina taking place in Prague on 7^th June.

Ryanair’s Jade Kirwan said:

“This year’s UEFA Europa Conference League Final is set to be an exciting match between West Ham United and Fiorentina. As part of the celebrations, Ryanair is adding extra flights on 6^th and 7^th June for fans travelling to Prague to watch the big game in-person at modern The Eden Aréna.

So, to avoid missing out, make sure to book your low-cost Ryanair fare now, and secure your spot for the ultimate match day experience.”