Ryanair is reducing its capacity in Austria in protest of the country’s €12 tax on air travel and the rapid increase in airport fees.
The CEO of the low-cost airline, Micheal O’Leary, criticized Austria, calling it “hopelessly uncompetitive.”
As a result, Ryanair is withdrawing three aircraft and suspending flights from Vienna to Billund, Santander, and Tallinn this winter. However, Mr. O’Leary has committed to increasing traffic by 70% to 12 million passengers per year if the Austrian government abolishes the 12 euro tax and follows the example of Sweden, Hungary, and Italy by reducing airport fees.
He said: “Austria remains one of the few EU countries, like Germany, that has not yet recovered its pre-pandemic traffic. This is despite Ryanair’s rapid growth in Austria since 2019 (+160%), including the addition of four new routes to and from Salzburg and Linz this coming winter. As a result of the government’s €12 air transport tax and extremely high access costs, Austria has become “hopelessly” uncompetitive. The closure of Wizz’s five-aircraft base shows that Austria can no longer compete with lower-cost EU markets such as Sweden, Hungary, and regional Italy, which have abolished the air transport tax in order to stimulate traffic growth,” said the head of Ryanair.
According to him, if the Austrian government abolishes this harmful tax, Ryanair will achieve an increase of up to 12 million passengers per year in Austria over the next five years, contributing significantly to the growth of tourism, employment, and the country’s economy.
Mr. O’Leary warns the Austrian government that if it does not take advantage of this important opportunity to increase traffic and support economic recovery, then fares for Austrian passengers will inevitably increase and Ryanair will have no choice but to further reduce its operations in Austria, as Lufthansa and Wizz have recently done, and move its aircraft and capacity to lower-cost markets such as Sweden, Italy, and Hungary.
Meanwhile, Ryanair is expanding its flights from Norwich Airport to Malta on an annual basis starting this winter.
