Low Cost Airline Cancels Thousands of Flights From Ireland to Lisbon Affecting Nearly a Million Passengers
The airline has stressed that it has cut the number of aircraft from seven to four, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.
Such a decision means that the latest announcement of the airline will affect about 900,000 customers, who would lose their flights or would have their holidays canceled.
Nearly 19 routes have been affected by Ryanair’s latest decision after it got into a row with Lisbon’s airport regarding the restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus.
In this regard, Ryanair’s CEO, Mike O’Leary, has issued a statement, apologizing for the cancellation of flights, while stressing that the loss of these 19 routes as well as 500 flights during this summer, means that Lisbon’s post-COVID recovery “will now lag behind other major European Union capital cities.”
“Ryanair remains committed to returning these three aircraft and 19 routes to Lisbon in October for its winter schedule when we will resume driving traffic, tourism, and jobs recovery in Lisbon. All passengers affected by these summer 2022 cancellations will receive email notifications later this week offering them full refunds or alternative flights to/from Lisbon for summer 2022,” O’Leary pointed out, as reported by Birminghami.
The following routes have disappeared in Lisbon for this summer:
- Agadir
- Alghero
- Alicante
- Bari
- Billund
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth
- Baden-Baden
Despite the fact that Ireland’s decision has affected nearly a million passengers, its decision to cancel routes from Lisbon’s airport is not of concern for Portugal’s tourism, according to the President of Turismo de Portugal.
According to Luis Arujo, the Irish company continues to have more presence compared to 2019 figures, and that most routes serve to take Portuguese people abroad.
Even though the Irish carrier’s decision has not received any reaction from the government, the President of Turismo de Portugal believes that the consequences for tourism will be few.
“Still, Ryanair has 26 per cent more [presence] than it had in 2019. In addition, most of the canceled markets serve much more to take Portuguese people abroad than to bring foreigners here,” Luís Araújo stressed in this regard.
The spread of the Coronavirus and its new strains have negatively impacted many industries, especially the travel and tourism sector, leading airlines to cancel their flights.
Due to the spread of the Coronavirus, particularly the Omicron variant, the CEO of the Irish airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, announced that it reduced the supply for January 2022 due to the lack of demand.
