Originally Posted by
Cyrano
I think you'll find that everyone over-declares in EIN, i.e. asks for more than they really need just in case they get lucky. Ryanair had 4046 slots last winter, they have 4024 this winter - that's 11 fewer turnrounds in the whole season, so I think they will be ok in practice.
Well, that's exactly the problem! Eindhoven is allowed to 'grow' until 28.000 movements by 2015, but they're already approaching that number, implying that Ryanair cannot grow there for at least two years! Therefore they need to look for alternatives; MST would be an excellent candidate in terms of opening hours and available capacity!
Some quotes retrieved from a MOU between Ryanair and MST back in January 2010 (not that recent, but still interesting ...)
- "Growth towards a volume between 800,000 and 1 million departing [Ryanair] passengers by the year 2020 is envisioned as possible."
- "
Ryanair is also willing to consider basing aircraft at Maastricht Airport in the medium to long term if the route development plans as outlined above reach a critical mass where opening a base would bring additional benefits to the airline, airport or surrounding region.
The airport's infrastructure, opening hours and designation would allow this. Any such route development plan would be subject to a legally binding agreement between the Parties, setting out the precise details of the growth plan."
http://www.centrumpp.nl/Images/3a%20...318-310336.PDF