Interview
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
Pilar Martínez
Malaga
Tuesday, 19 November 2024, 09:45
Elena Cabrera, Ryanair's country manager in Spain, is in love with Malaga. At every meeting she emphasises the city's qualities and, on this occasion, she repeats her preferences. She did so on the very day that the company announced its flight schedule for this winter to the Costa del Sol, where it is the leading airline in terms of passenger volume at Malaga airport. It is also where it intends to continue to maintain its 31% share of passenger business, particularly as that trade holds up in winter for the Costa del Sol.
-Ryanair is reinforcing its commitment to Malaga this winter...
-That's right. For winter we have 78 routes, two of which are new for low season, although we launched them last summer and they have worked very well. These are Bucharest, which we will operate with three weekly frequencies, and Poznan, with two flights a week. We are seeing a significant upward trend in Poland, which has grown a lot with Spain. A similar situation to the one we have seen in Bucharest.
-What seat offer is Ryanair launching this winter in Malaga?
-This new season we are putting 2.6 million seats on the market, but in the total for this financial year, which runs from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we expect to handle 8.6 million passengers at Malaga airport, which is 17% more than the previous financial year. We are continuing to grow, which is part of the company's organic growth at a global level, despite the fact that with the increase in Aena [Spain's main airport management authority] taxes, growth is very complicated, which is still occurring at the company's large airports.
-What does Malaga Airport represent within the network in which Ryanair operates?
-It is in the 'Top 5'. Madrid's in the lead, followed by Barcelona, Mallorca and Alicante, a little ahead of Malaga. The great success of the Costa del Sol is that in winter we continue to have a very large operation. It is a destination that is not only based on the summer campaign, but in winter we have 12 planes, 78 routes.
-That is to say that in the winter they maintain the same market share as in the summer...
-Exactly. We maintain 31% of the market share of Malaga Airport. That is why it is one of the major airports in Spain, which is the second largest market for the company after Italy.
Are you worried about the rise in airport taxes?
-Well, because last year Aena set a 4.1% increase for 2024, which has already been implemented. And now it has asked for a 0.5% increase for 2025, knowing that it had committed to freezing rates until 2026. This has not happened. And airlines have very large long-term investments and in the end half of the ticket price is taken up by fuel and taxes. We need to have some certainty about what these costs are going to be in order to be able to have a long- and medium-term programme in the regions and to be able to continue to invest.
- In Germany they have already taken measures because of the tax burden. Will this affect connectivity between Malaga and Germany?
-Yes, of course. Ryanair has to operate in regions and countries that are commercially interesting for us. If taxes are increased in a region, then we can't fly. We are based on tickets with an average fare of 48 euros. And that is why we have stopped flying in Dortmund, with previously direct flights to Malaga, Dresden and Leipzig, and we have halved our operations in Hamburg, where we also fly from the Costa del Sol. Ryanair, with the prices it handles, is very sensitive to fee or cost increases.
-And can investment be stopped?
-Yes, of course it can be slowed down. We had a proposal for the next seven years to invest in Spain, to put more planes, more bases and more routes, something that for now is on standby due to the increase in airport taxes in Spain.
-How was your summer?
-We have had a very good summer. It is true that in Malaga we always have 96% or 97% aircraft occupancy. Therefore, these are seasons that always work very well, just like in winter. It is a very stable destination all year round.
-Is it also stable in terms of routes?
-The truth is that there are no huge differences. In winter we have 78 and in summer we offer 89.
-Does this happen in other Spanish airports or is it unique to the Costa del Sol airport?
-Well, it is a unique situation, which also happens in the Canary Islands. This is also part of the company's strategy, in which we don't want to focus only on the summer, but we want there to be a constant flow throughout the year, so that we don't concentrate all our efforts on the high season.
-What are your forecasts for 2025?
-We are off to a good and strong start to the winter season, which we hope will continue with the incessant intensity to date, but it is true that we had expectations for next year's campaign to continue increasing passengers in general, let's say, throughout the network. And the problems in Boeing's deliveries, which are behind schedule, will have an impact. We had planned to receive around 30 planes and we will receive between 10 and 15 from March next year, which will affect the summer. So, what will happen is that the growth we were thinking of will be smaller.
-How can this affect the scheduling in Malaga?
-Well, in the end, what happened is that we had planned to reach 198 million passengers on the Ryanair network in this financial year with a target of 300 million passengers by 2035. Now we will have to lower our expectations for 2025. If we were at 215 million, we will have to think that it will be less. It is clear that we cannot put as many aircraft up as we expected. We will see in which regions we are going to place them depending on where they are of most commercial interest. This has an impact on all the airports in the network and, therefore, on Malaga as well.
-What new trends are you seeing in travel?
-The eastern European countries, Prague, Poland, Bucharest, Budapest are doing very well, but also Morocco, which is a region that is growing a lot and this summer we started operating domestic flights in this country, which was a milestone. We are going to open new bases in this North African market, where we already have four. Here we are at a time of very strong growth and, moreover, it is a region that is also in great demand in the winter season.
-Do you think that rising prices are holding back demand?
-For now, demand is stable. We are moderately optimistic.
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Necesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.