The Tourism Promotion Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Ángel Vázquez, has confirmed that the closure of the Ryanair base in Lanzarote, scheduled for January 8, will mean "more or less half" of the flights it currently operates. However, Vázquez has expressed "hope," as he has assured that there is "interest from other companies to increase their connectivity with Lanzarote."
The Corporation later sent a statement specifying that the company will eliminate five of the 29 routes it had last winter season with the island, while others will reduce frequencies. Specifically, Ryanair connections with Valencia, Berlin Schöenefeld, Leeds, Knock, and Newcastle will disappear, while destinations such as Madrid will go from the two daily flights it offered most days to just one, eliminating a total of five weekly flights, and Seville will go from offering three weekly flights to just two.
"The decrease in flights with the capital planned by Ryanair will be compensated by the increase, starting on October 29, of 11% in the number of seats on this route by Iberia Express, which will increase nighttime connections between Lanzarote and Madrid during the winter season, reaching a total of 13 weekly flights," the Cabildo points out, emphasizing that "an airplane of the Spanish airline will stay overnight at the Lanzarote airport six days a week, so that in practice Lanzarote will not lose the nighttime air connection with the capital of Spain, which has a great demand from the local population of Lanzarote, nor the early morning flight that connects with Madrid."
More seats in other companies
On the other hand, they argue that "the elimination of routes with Leeds and Newcastle will be cushioned by the increase in the number of seats between the island and the United Kingdom announced for this winter by Jet2, based in Leeds." In addition, they add that "it will still be possible to travel directly between Lanzarote and Valencia through the weekly frequency of Vueling, which is considering the possibility of having two weekly frequencies on this route starting in the summer of 2020."
Furthermore, they also recall that easyJet will increase the number of routes it has established with the island to fifteen starting in December, when it begins operating with the French city of Lyon.
"This retreat of Ryanair has led SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote to schedule a series of meetings with representatives of the main airlines and tour operators," the Cabildo states, detailing the meetings planned by Ángel Vázquez and the CEO of SPEL Turismo Lanzarote, Héctor Fernández.
"The panorama is complicated"
"No one can deny that the panorama is complicated and the situation is uncertain, not only because of the announcement of the closure of the Ryanair base, but in general due to different factors, including Brexit, the possible entry into recession of Germany, the bankruptcy of German companies, among other circumstances that affect the tourist market," admits Ángel Vázquez.
However, he expresses his confidence that all these meetings "will serve to continue strengthening ties with the main air agents and tour operators, many of whom, fortunately, in the face of Ryanair's retreat, are in the deployment phase and, as can be seen, continue to bet on Lanzarote, considering it an interesting and solid destination." The councilor wants to emphasize "that this, of course, does not take away from the fact that the decision adopted by Ryanair is undoubtedly bad news for the island, both in economic and labor terms."
In addition, Councilor Ángel Vázquez has already announced that Turismo Lanzarote will request to be present at all meetings convened by state agencies with Ryanair in order to analyze the consequences of the closure of the base in Lanzarote of the Irish airline, which also plans to close its bases in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Gerona.
