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Ryanair will close its bases at Cork and Shannon airports and cut Knock’s services for the winter, as the airline cuts its hours to 40% of last year’s capacity.
The airline warned that removals and leave without pay were “inevitable” this winter.
His decision that 135 pilots and crew at Cork and Shannon airports face the possibility of being out of work until services are resumed in April.
Knock Airport later confirmed Thursday that the airline was cutting winter services from its base in the west of Ireland by 80 percent.
Ryanair’s announcement comes as bookings are affected by ongoing restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19.
The airline group said its advance bookings had weakened “materially” in November and December.
Ryanair intends to maintain up to 65 per cent of its winter route network, but with reduced frequencies.
It is also closing its Toulouse base for the winter and making significant aircraft cutbacks in Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Vienna.
“While we deeply regret these winter time cuts, they have been imposed on us by government mismanagement of EU air travel. Our focus continues to be to maintain as large a program as we can sensibly operate to keep our aircraft, our pilots and our cabin crew up-to-date and employed while minimizing job losses, ”said Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.
“It is inevitable, given the scale of these cuts, that we implement more unpaid leave and job sharing this winter on those bases where we have agreed to reduce work time and pay, but this is a better short-term outcome than mass Losses. of employment.
“Unfortunately, there will be more layoffs at that small number of cabin crew bases, where we have not yet reached an agreement on working time and pay cuts, which is the only alternative.”
The company is already operating at a 70 percent load factor, a measure of how full its planes are, and expects to carry a total of 38 million passengers in its 2021 financial year. However, it cautioned that it could be revised downward. if more blockades were imposed during the winter.
O’Leary said the company will continue to actively manage its cost base, preparing for a spike in short-haul air travel in Europe once an effective Covid-19 vaccine is developed.
In the meantime, we urge all EU governments to immediately and fully adopt the EU Commission’s traffic light system, which allows safe air travel between EU states at the regional level to continue (without restrictions travel codes) for those countries and regions. from Europe, which can demonstrate that their Covid case rates are less than 50 per 100,000 population. ”
Ireland is currently experiencing Covid rates in excess of 100 per 100,000 inhabitants during the last 14 days.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the government cannot lift travel restrictions at a time of a global pandemic.
Coveney said Ryanair had assured him that the closures were a temporary decision and that if “some kind of normalcy” was returned, the centers could reopen.
It was understandable that airlines couldn’t fly planes without anyone on them, he said. “Thats the reality”.
Coveney said he had registered Ireland on the EU’s Traffic Light travel system, which would be finalized at the cabinet meeting next Tuesday.
“We will try to make the trip as safe as possible.”
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that no government can do anything to compensate airlines for the impact of Covid-19 on the aviation sector.
Mr. Donohoe reiterated that the actions taken by the State in response to the pandemic were to protect people’s health.
Speaking on Pat Kenny’s show in Newstalk, Mr. Donohoe said the government was working to ensure that the state’s actions were consistent with its EU partners and to ensure that the economy was in a position to resume as soon as possible.
“There is nothing that any government can do that can compensate anyone for such a profound change in such an important sector of our economy as aviation,” he said.
Analysts Stephen Furlong and Ross Harvey of Davy, who is the airline’s corporate broker, said the news was not a surprise.
They noted that in July, Ryanair had said it expected to operate a schedule that was 40 percent lower than pre-Covid figures for that month, rising to 60 percent in August and 70 percent in September.
In August, it announced that it would reduce September and October capacity by 20 percent, bringing September to about 56 percent of 2019 capacity.
“On September 18, it said it was reducing October capacity by an additional 20 percent (that is, October down to 40 percent a year earlier),” analysts said. “This latest revision, which further reduces capacity throughout the winter period from 60% to 40%, should come as no surprise.
Davy now expects the limited capacity and base closures to cost the airline more than € 500 million during the winter season.
Conor Healy, executive director of the Cork Chamber, said the decision puts Cork airport “on the ropes” and would be devastating for staff.
“This announcement is hugely damaging to regional and national connectivity and raises very real concerns regarding the ability of Cork airport to avoid closure without further direct financial support from the government other than that announced and received on Budget Day,” he said. “However, beyond this, a strong commitment to EU travel regulations and, more importantly, the ability to implement proactive travel testing without delay remains important and essential.”
He warned that the airport was a key driver of the local economy, generating 12,000 jobs directly and indirectly in the region.
“If Cork airport cannot stand up, the tourism and hospitality supports announced in the budget can only be partial and temporary at best,” he said.
Niall MacCarthy, managing director of Cork Airport, said the company was “devastated” at the news of the loss of jobs and 13 routes that would result.
He noted that many of the airline’s flights from the airport had only 10 passengers.
“We have done everything possible at Cork airport to maintain the base here and the connectivity it offers to the southern region of Ireland,” MacCarthy said.
Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Group agreed that the news was “disappointing” for both airline and airport workers.
She called for a clear path to recovery for aviation, which the pandemic has devastated for the past seven months.
Fórsa union leader Ian McDonnell, who represents the airline’s workers, said the organization was disappointed that Ryanair did not contact it to allow time for talks before making the decision.
“The union’s mission since the pandemic hit the country in March has been to work closely with all aviation employers, including Ryanair, to maximize job protection,” he said.
“Fórsa has called on the government to step in to support the industry because Ireland’s connectivity through aviation is crucial to its economy.”
Fergal O’Brien, policy director for the employers group, Ibec, warned that the loss of flights could hamper efforts by companies in the south and west to recruit new EU customers to replace those lost or threatened by the Brexit.
“We know that Brexit is going to hurt the regions more than the economy on average or the greater Dublin area,” he said.
“For companies looking to diversify, when it comes to getting new customers, you need to have time to spare.”
O’Brien noted that air routes were vital to that and to existing business and tourism.
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