• Airlines.Ryanair approves throwing more than 500 people while approving a 100 million bonus for O'Leary
  • Baleares.Norwegian closes its Palma base to reduce costs

Last August Ryanair announced the closure of three bases in Spain (Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Girona) arguing that they were no longer profitable. This week has been his rival in the Norwegian low cost business, which has announced that it closes that of Madrid with the same justification. These announcements have been controversial, not only because of the impact on employment (an estimated 700 jobs lost), but because the tourism sector fears that, with the closures, these destinations will lose air connectivity.

Ryanair, the airline that moves more passengers in Spain, has more than one million seats in the three bases that it will close. Norwegian is the eighth largest airline in the country, with almost nine million passengers transported in a year until August, of which 1.29 in Madrid. This is the fourth Spanish airport in passenger volume after Malaga, Barcelona and Alicante. Those who are at stake are part of these seats.

"The air business is very messy, there has been excessive supply capacity that has stressed prices and margins," says José Luis Zoreda, president of the Exceltur tourist lobby. As explained by Javier Gándara, president of ALA, the Airline Association, "that an airline closes a base does not mean that it stops flying to that destination."

"There is a difference between having a base and connectivity. The first is an operational and strategic decision. That of the airlines is a very complicated business and that is why we see bankruptcies continuously, because survival is difficult," says Gándara, who he believes that "it is not that Spain has ceased to be an attractive destination for these companies, but that the closures are due more to commercial and strategic reasons."

For Zoreda, the airlines "are focusing on the most profitable routes. Many have opened bases at destinations at a good time thinking it was profitable to do so and then realized that they were not."

In the case of Ryanair and Norwegian, they share, with many nuances, the low cost model and both have been the most affected by delays in the delivery of the Boeing 737 Max. This is one of the reasons they have given to justify staff closures and cuts. The two had these devices to fly this summer, but Boeing is reviewing the model after the fatal accidents that have occurred, so the delivery has been suspended.

"This delay is a shock to fleet plans, because it unlocks everything," says Gándara, who is also Easyjet director.

Therefore, they indicate in ALA, the closing of a base is a cluster of decisions. In the case of Norwegian, it is "a company that has opted for transoceanic routes," sources in the sector explain. This has had an impact on their business, but "it does not mean that Spain is no longer an attractive destination," they say.

After the bankruptcy of tour operator Thomas Cook, different agents in the sector (hoteliers, authorities ...) have asked the airline to reconsider its decision to close the bases taking advantage of the void left by the British group.

For ALA, "it is not so easy to cover the hole of Thomas Cook", which was 650,000 seats in the winter season. Condor, the German airline, continues to operate, but not the English one, which had 50 planes, "it was not exactly small and there is no ability to react in the short term to cover it," they say.

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