Alicante - Ryanair v Aena
Talks between Ryanair and Aena on the use of Airbridges at Alicante Airport appear to have reached deadlock, being described as 'an irresistible force meeting an immovable object'.
In an interview this week, Luis Fernandez Mellado, Ryanair's Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator for Spain and Portugal explained that the use of airbridges would represent 'an unnecessary cost to the airline which would need to be passed on to passengers'. Later in the interview he stated that 'the direct cost to the airline is estimated to be about 2 million Euros per year which would add 50 cents to the cost of a flight'. However, if Ryanair where unable to meet their 25 minute turn around time through use of airbridges, additional indirect costs would be difficult to quantify although he admitted that airbridges were used at Madrid and Barcelona.
Ryanair claim to move 4 million passengers per year through the airport which represents almost 40% of the annual total.