As I've mentioned in my earlier post, "
For these big [airports,like Zaventem], Ryanair is sometimes an intruder, an unwanted nuisance. (...) Zaventem Airport managing director, [was] less than content and somewhat offended by Ryanair's decision to "invade" the place".
This morning Mr. Marc Descheemaecker, a new chairman of the board of directors of Brussels Airport, has expressed his view even more clearly: The arrival of Ryanair to Zaventem may in the long term harm the Belgian economy. That has been said publicly in "The Morning" broadcast on Radio1.
According to Descheemaecker the future of the airport in Zaventem could now be jeopardized. He fears that the Irish airline would provoke a 'disturbance'.
Descheemaecker calls to be 'strategically prudent' while dealing with the arrival of new players. "If Brussels Airlines becomes squeezed by Ryanair, the Belgian carrier might be forced to reduce its flights to Africa and travellers will have to fly from other European airports", he said.
No matter how much is the reason, I don't think such publicly expressed hostility towards a newcomer is a good start for a partnership.
The recording of this interview in its entirety can be found
here (in Dutch only).