Ryanair is confident that its present negotiations in Lisbon will lead to the creation of a new Ryanair base at Portela Airport (LIS/LPPT) next year. "We are confident that our discussions will have a good result, " said Ryanair's Daniel de Carvalho at the
press conference, explaining that "the main Achilles heel is related to operational issues" (25 min. turnaround time). The problem could be solved by using the domestic terminal, we learn. De Carvalho thinks Ryanair could start flying to Lisbon by next summer.
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“They terminate routes where the planes are always full and prices are same as with the legacy carriers, are they idiots or what?”
I guess that the criteria which routes to axe (for the winter or generally) could be more simple than we think. Like: no marketing support - no flights. As the above example shows, it's possibly not always the best rule from the economical point of view. In some cases it could be a "matter of principle", though.