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The move, previously threatened by the budget carrier, is being made after Ryanair claimed local tourism group AIE failed to honour a commercial agreement to promote the island as a tourist destination. Ryanair will close all services to Fuerteventura including Birmingham (3 a week), Bremen (2), Dublin (2), Dusseldorf (Weeze) (4), East Midlands (3), Frankfurt (2), Liverpool (3), London (3) and Shannon (1).
Ryanair confirmed legal action for breach of the agreement will continue against AIE and its individual members. The airline’s deputy chief executive Michael Cawley, said: “This is a very black day for Fuerteventura and one which will have a severe impact on tourism and the livelihoods of its islanders.” He claimed that more than 250,000 annual passengers will now be lost to/from Fuerteventura. “At a time when Spanish tourism numbers are falling Ryanair’s passenger traffic continues to grow as our fares continue to fall,” said Cawley. “However, the AIE has now taken a huge gamble with the livelihoods of the local tourism industry by blatantly reneging on its contractual commitments and losing Ryanair’s 23 weekly services to the island. “Ryanair previously called on the AIE to comply with its contractual agreements and provided them with 30 days notice to remedy their contract breach, this notice period has now lapsed with no action having been taken to maintain Ryanair’s presence in Fuerteventura. “Therefore, we are faced with no choice but to end all Ryanair flights to Fuerteventura from 31st January.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
