Now it looks like: "Bye, bye Girona". Despedida!
Ryanair today confirmed the cancellation of its five-year extension agreement at Barcelona Girona Airport, which was originally announced in December 2010, saying the new Catalan government has refused to honour its agreement with the airline
"In December 2010 Ryanair and the Government of Catalonia reached agreement on a five year extension of its base operation at Girona Airport under which Ryanair agreed to base 11 aircraft at Girona, operate 64 routes and deliver 4m passengers p.a. which would sustain up to 4,000 jobs in and around Girona Airport," Ryanair said.
"However, the new government has refused to honour the agreement despite being consulted on it by the outgoing government."
Ryanair is to reduce its operations from the airport by five aircraft, close 18 (of 64) routes and reduce frequencies on 17 other routes, the airline said.
The move will result in the loss of over 100 weekly flights, which will see Ryanair’s Girona traffic fall from 4m to 2.3m per annum, which it said will cause the loss of up to 1,700 local jobs
"Ryanair will now switch these five aircraft to lower cost airports elsewhere in Europe," the airline said.
"It is a remarkable achievement by the new government to have caused such job and tourism losses within weeks of taking office," said spokesman Michael Cawley.
"However, while this is a significant loss for Girona, Ryanair will continue to grow at other lower cost airports in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.”
So when the cancellations are due to begin?
