Ryanair Announces 6% Drop in Fares from April

Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer David O'Brien announced earlier this week that the popular low-cost airline would be reducing its prices by 6% from April, and for the next quarter, as a direct result of the drop in fuel prices over the last few months.

The announcement was made during a presentation of the low-cost airline’s winter schedule in Spain and said that the discount would be applied to the fares currently in place, which are already some of the cheapest on the market.

With regards to the airline’s evolution in the Spanish market, the Irish company forecasts a 10% rise in passenger numbers this year. This would bring the total number of passengers transported to 38.3 million from the 35 million registered in 2015.

With these figures, Spain will be the second largest market in terms of passenger numbers this year, only behind the UK. However, the biggest increases percentage-wise will be seen from markets such as Rumania, Denmark and Germany.

O’Brien highlighted the fact that Ryanair’s expansion in Spain has been aided by factors including the strong pound, the freezing of airport taxes, the political instability in North Africa and the 40% increase of airport taxes in Italy.

And mention was also made of Spain’s political situation and the fact that the ruling party could change in the near future. Whoever will govern over the next period, the company hopes that it will not put the interests of shareholders above the growth of the tourism sector.

As an example, O’Brian cited the fact that Madrid turned down the airlines offer of bringing 300,000 additional passengers to Palma de Mallorca during the quiet winter months in exchange for a reduction in airport taxes.

It is expected that the majority of growth from Spain this year will be concentrated in the airports of Madrid and Barcelona, where 15% more passengers will travel through. Growth from other airports will sit below 10%.

There will be four new routes from Madrid: Brussels, Toulouse, Sofia (Bulgaria) and Birmingham, and a rise in the number of flights to Milan-Bérgamo, Oporto and Malta.

Source: www.expansion.com