ZERO ZAVENTEM GROWTH DUE HIGH AIRPORT CHARGES

Ryanair (27^th Aug) announced 9 new Charleroi routes to Cork, Dubrovnik, Gothenburg, Kaunas, Lamezia, Reggio Calabria, Sarajevo, Tel Aviv, and Trieste for W2024. Brussels Zaventem will not enjoy any Ryanair growth this Winter due to high airport charges, which have increased again in 2024, making Zaventem even less competitive than many other EU airports who understand that lower costs are necessary to stimulate traffic growth.  

As Belgium’s No.1 airline, Ryanair welcomes Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election as President of the EU Commission but again calls on her to finally take action to urgently reform Europe’s failing ATC system, which has caused record flight delays and cancellations across Europe in 2024 due to repeated staff shortages and poor rostering.

Despite EU flights in 2024 being 5% lower than 2019 levels, and even with the benefit of much fewer French ATC strikes, Europe’s ATC delays are at record levels. Over the last 3 years, Europe’s ATC fees have risen by 21% while staffing and service levels continue to decline. This is unacceptable, and EU Commission President von der Leyen must now take action to urgently improve Europe’s competitiveness by reforming its failing ATC system.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“We are pleased to announce 9 new Ryanair routes from Charleroi to Cork, Dubrovnik, Gothenburg, Kaunas, Lamezia, Reggio, Sarajevo, Tel Aviv, and Trieste for Winter 2024. Sadly, we have zero growth in Zaventem due to their higher airport charges, which they have increased again this year, making Zaventem more expensive than most competitor airports over Europe.

It is completely unacceptable that 1000’s of EU flights continue to be delayed/cancelled by ATC staff shortages and mismanagement. Ursula von der Leyen and the new EU Commission must act NOW to reform Europe’s failing ATC system, to deliver an efficient and competitive ATC service for the benefit of EU passengers and airlines.”