Summary
- Ryanair will close its Bordeaux Airport (BOD) base, citing growing costs.
- The airline will close its base effective November 2024, offering BOD-based employees jobs elsewhere across its network.
- Meanwhile, the Irish airline opened another maintenance hangar at Kaunas Airport (KUN), Lithuania.
Ryanair has announced that it will close its base at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD) effective November, moving its three Boeing 737 aircraft away from the airport, while also more than 90 pilot, flight attendant, and engineering jobs at BOD.
Growing costs
The Irish low-cost carrier argued that it had made the decision after negotiations with BOD’s management failed, resulting in the two sides disagreeing on the extension terms of Ryanair’s low-cost services. As a result, three BOD-based Boeing 737s, as well as more than 90 employees, will be moved elsewhere on the airline’s network.
Ryanair emphasized that the crew working at BOD, employed by Malta Air, were informed about the decision and that they will be offered similar positions elsewhere throughout the low-cost carrier’s network at “other interesting bases.”
Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying
According to Jason McGuiness, the chief commercial officer (CCO) of Ryanair, the airline was disappointed that BOD did not accept the carrier’s terms, with the growing costs, effective November, forcing Ryanair to make a decision since it had no other financial alternative.
“The loss of Bordeaux will be a gain for other airports across Europe, and we have already started discussions with our pilots, cabin crew, and engineers based in Bordeaux to offer them similar positions at other attractive Ryanair bases across Europe from November 2024.”
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Almost 25% of traffic
In addition, Ryanair said that the airport would lose up to 40 routes that the Irish low-cost carrier operates from/to BOD. According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium, the Irish airline has 138 weekly departures from the French airport in May, which is 24.8% of the total traffic leaving the airport on a weekly basis.
Other airlines with significant flight schedules from BOD include easyJet (172 weekly flights, 30.9%), Volotea (66 weekly flights, 11.8%), and Air France (62 weekly flights, 11.1%). However, Cirium’s data showed that while Ryanair has literally eliminated all flights originating from the French airport in November, no airline has reacted to the change so far. At the same time, with the Irish low-cost carrier announcing the news only yesterday – May 14 – companies could have had no time to act accordingly.
Photo: Ryanair
Some of the most popular Ryanair destinations from BOD included Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), London Stansted Airport (STN), Dublin Airport (DUB), Porto Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO), Seville Airport (SVQ), and Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK).
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Additional maintenance capacity in Lithuania
On the same day, Ryanair announced that it opened a second hangar in Lithuania, namely Kaunas Airport (KUN). The investment to build the second maintenance hangar was €20 million ($21.7 million), with the opening of the additional facility creating over 200 jobs in the region.
Photo: Ryanair
In addition to the new hangar, the Irish low-cost carrier, which is the largest airline in terms of market share in Lithuania, announced that it would add four new routes to European cities from KUN, basing one new aircraft during the upcoming summer season at the airport. In total, the base’s fleet will consist of three Boeing 737 aircraft.
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