Ryanair will close its base at Brussels Airport (BRU), located in Zaventem, a town near the Belgian capital, during the coming northern winter. At an extraordinary meeting last Wednesday, Europe’s largest low-cost airline decided to implement the measure between 29 October and March 2023.
From the end of next month, Ryanair will relocate the two aircraft currently based at Zaventem. However, other aircraft in the fleet will continue to operate flights to and from there. Earlier, the Irish airline’s management had said it was prepared to reduce its presence in the country rather than give in to demands from pilots’ and other workers’ unions.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, said after the meeting that the decision represented «a loss of 200 million in investment». The executive, known for his outspoken style and flamboyant statements, however, pointed to the increase in airport charges in Brussels as the main cause of the move.
He said the fee hike was not conducive to the recovery of air traffic and remarked that the changes would make other airports more competitive. This would be the case for Charleroi (CRL), 46 kilometres south of Brussels, where Ryanair has its main Belgian hub.
«We have no other solution following the price increase», said O’Leary, who blamed the Belgian administration for what he called the «absurd decision» to introduce taxes on «the most environmentally efficient flights» while «exempting long-haul and transit flights from the ecotax».
Hans Elsen, Secretary of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions of Belgium, said that «Ryanair is workinf according to a blackmail model». He also claimed that the company opposes the new fees «on principle», as none of its routes from Zaventem would be affected by the additional ten euro fees for journeys of less than 500 kilometres. «They are only charged a fee of 2 to 4 euros», he said.
The service will not necessarily be affected, as the company will be able to continue operating to the Belgian capital’s airport from other terminals. According to the company, the current schedule will be resumed next March, although we will have to wait and see how the situation develops.
The company assured that it would not lay off staff. However, pilots, cabin crew and airport staff based at Zaventem will have to be relocated to Charleroi or another nearby terminal.
The Brussels Airport administration, for its part, said in a statement that the measure «will have little impact on travelers». Currently, Ryanair accounts for about 8% of total passenger traffic at the terminal. It operates about thirty flights a day, a third of which are operated by Belgian-based crew.
On the increase in fees, they said that the proposal «includes an increase in fares to take into account the sharp rise in energy prices and very high inflation, which has a strong impact on the cost of airport operations».
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