Ryanair playing hardball for new airport?
"Ryanair is (still) considering Rzeszów in Poland as the site of its new technical base", said Polish press yesterday (Riga is being rumoured as an alternative location). According to an unofficial information cited by 'Puls Biznesu', FR is using the possible investment as a bargaining chip in a bid to open the Modlin airport near Warsaw for budget flights.
"The Irish proposed an exchange transaction," "In return for the selection of Jasionka for the construction of their base they want the guarantee that the airport in Modlin, where they could build an operational base for several aircraft, will be opened soon", writes Puls Biznesu. However, Tomasz Kułakowski who is responsible for Ryanair's sales and marketing in central Europe denies everything. "Since we entered into Poland we have been talking about the necessity to build an airport for budget airlines near Warsaw," said Kułakowski. "But we did not put forward an ultimatum in negotiations nor did we link those two decisions."
Regardless of that, experts say that such kind of Ryanair's ultimatum would be beneficial for the market. "It would be good blackmail and the president of Ryanair would be acting in our best interest," said Tomasz Dziedzic from the Polish Institute of Tourism, "If neither domestic policymakers nor local authorities are able to influence the construction of the airport, maybe a tough negotiator will succeed."