Ryanair ceases activities at Maastricht Aachen Airport

Ryanair has announced it will close the routes in and out of Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) as per January 8th 2009. During the winter months the Dutch governments “ecotax” hinders the sustainability of the operations. The airport and Ryanair are in negotiation regarding the continuation of flights during the 2009 summer season.

Sander Heijmans, CEO of Maastricht Aachen Airport: “It is sad to see the routes which were started a year ago are discontinued. In the period between the Christmas holidays and the start of the summer season demand is traditionally at its lowest. With the current economic circumstances and the Dutch government’s “ecotax”, a profitable continuation during these months apparently is impossible.

“Because Ryanair guarantees its passengers the lowest fares in Europe the airline had decided to absorb most of the tax itself. There is simply no tolerance in the market for the tax and if it was possible to raise prices on all intra-European flights, the airlines would have done so themselves a long time ago”.

With the discontinuation of flights the regional economy also looses substantial tourism revenue. Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s COO said: “A year ago we were negotiating with MAA to expand our offer to 10 destinations which would have given the region at least 150,000 additional tourists. These negotiations were stopped due to the ecotax. According to the Dutch tourism agency NBTC the average tourist spends over €330 per visit.

“Considering this is only the result of Ryanair’s decision not to expand at Maastricht while many other airlines are withholding or even terminating services as a direct result of the Dutch tax, it is obvious that the ministry of financial affairs is causing harm to the Dutch economy. The tourism and restaurant and hotel sector in particular are being harmed, which are industries volatile to the economy. During these times people are opting for Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and The Netherlands is not benefiting from Ryanair’s growth due to the tax.”

Sander Heijmans adds: “It is incomprehensible that the tax remains standing when it is obvious it is causing unnecessary harm to the Dutch aviation and tourism trade. People simply drive to airports abroad to start their journey there. So besides harm to the economy there is no benefit to the environment at all. We will continue to fight the tax at the Dutch High Court and Ryanair will remain involved in this.

“It is obvious that when transfer passengers are exempted from the tax while they share the same aircraft with passengers who do have to pay the “environment” tax, environmental reasons cannot be the motivation for the tax. It is time the Ministry of Financial Affairs realises this and stops the harm they are causing”.

A decision regarding the continuation of the routes during the 2009 summer season is expected in the next weeks.