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Mariano Sanz: Ryanair must comply with new rules |
SPAIN. Spanish airport authority AENA has insisted that Ryanair and other carriers must comply with new rules that underline passengers’ rights to carry onboard separate bags with shopping purchases at its airports.
The Spanish government recently introduced a new law banning airlines from enforcing the notorious “˜one bag rule’ that has hit travel retail sales hard in recent times. Ryanair in particular has forced passengers to pay extra to take their shopping purchases onboard.
AENA Director Commercial Services & Properties Mariano Sanz, speaking to industry media at Alicante Airport on Friday, said: “We are very happy with our partnership with Ryanair, which represents 27% of AENA’s passenger traffic today. They bring much growth to our airports, but they also introduce conditions that can make doing business difficult. The one-bag rule has had a big impact on sales.
“With this new law passengers are allowed to take an extra bag with purchases onto their flights. We have communicated strongly to Ryanair that they must obey the rules. When we told them, they said they would comply with Irish law rather than Spanish law; but we said that this was not acceptable, and we repeated that they must follow the rules in place at Spain’s airports.”
The new rules were hailed as a breakthrough by ACI Europe, which has committed to supporting similar moves to change the one-bag rule in other EU states.
Sanz said: “AENA and the Spanish government are not seeking conflict but we will defend passengers’ rights to the end. Also, the airlines are asking us to reduce their landing charges, but AENA needs to grow its commercial revenues to do this – and that is made more difficult by restricting passengers to one bag. We cannot grow our commercial business and lower airline fees at the same time.”
Aldeasa Chief Commercial Officer Eugenio Andrades said: “The government and AENA have been very brave in tackling this issue on passengers’ behalf. The new law protects not only passengers, but also brands, whose support we also need to protect the business. The one bag rule is a factor in changing the mindset of passengers who would otherwise spend. AENA can’t be alone in this fight and needs European support. This is a key “˜Trinity’ issue and demands engagement with airlines as an element in the Trinity. We are strongly against the one bag rule and will act to defend the industry’s future.”
At Alicante Airport, AENA has the complication of a threat from Ryanair to cut up to 80% of its services as a response to the airport’s insistence that all airlines use air bridges to board passengers. Usually, Ryanair boards passengers via steps and refuses to pay the additional cost of air bridge services. Ryanair said it would cut services from October 2011, citing a €2 million a year cost to the airline. Cutting back services, it claimed, would cost the airport €18 million in passenger fees and €12 million in commercial revenues. It called on AENA to reconsider its decision on air bridges and said there was time to reverse the cut.
Alicante Airport Director Santiago Martínez-Cava Arenas said the company was in talks with Ryanair about the issue, and was confident of a resolution. He noted that airlines were charged around €0.30 per passenger to use the air bridges, and said this was not a high price to pay for any airline, low-cost or otherwise.
Any withdrawal by Ryanair would have a dramatic impact on the business at Alicante, where it accounts for 31% of passenger traffic.
