Ryanair defends Arad route closures

Ryanair has rejected claims by Arad County Council and its President, Mr. Iosaf Matula, in relation to Ryanair’s recent cancellation of its route from Milan Bergamo to Arad Airport in Romania.

Mr. Matula had claimed that Ryanair had asked for extra funding to support the route in the coming winter period. However, Ryanair claims it was merely calling on the Council to honour the agreement, which it had made with Ryanair prior to the commencement of the route.
Commenting on Mr Matula’s comments, Ryanair’s Deputy Chief Executive, Michael Cawley said:

“We very much regret having to cancel this route from Milan Bergamo to Arad but we’re not prepared to do business with anyone who doesn’t honour their agreements. Arad County Council had specifically undertaken to support this route, particularly at its commencement, and had subsequently reneged on this commitment. Despite numerous efforts by Ryanair to get the County Council to honour its commitment, Mr Matula and his colleagues decided that they could ignore them and renege on their obligations.

“I also wish to refute Mr. Matula’s contention that Ryanair brought very little benefit to Arad. In reality, apart from putting this under-developed, provincial city in Romania on the international map, we also brought over 10,000 visitors to the city, thereby creating 100 jobs and injecting over €4m into the local economy. The region and city can ill afford the loss of this service which represented a unique opportunity to both stimulate the local economy and establish Arad as a plausible destination for airline traffic.

“With their failure to honour their obligations, Mr. Matula and his colleagues in Arad County Council have thrown away this opportunity and damaged the reputation of the city, both in Romania and abroad”.