Ryanair asks for release of TAP slots at Lisbon airport by summer
The Irish airline criticized this Wednesday the injection of 2.55 billion euros in approval to TAP, approved the day before by the European Commission.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary argues in a statement that “Commissioner Margrethe Vestager [da Concorrência e Transição Digital] it clearly erred by not requiring TAP to deliver at least 30% of its daily slots in Lisbon”.
It was decided by Brussels that the Portuguese airline will give away 18 slots [faixas horárias] per day at Lisbon airport, which corresponds to around 5% of the total held by TAP.
The official also asks the European Commission to reconsider the schedule for the delivery of these slots until the summer of next year and not postpone until November 2022. Otherwise, O’Leary predicts that competition will be even more harmed, as will “the choices of consumers in Lisbon”, and the recovery of Lisbon airport from the effects of the pandemic is also delayed.
Ryanair says that the value “of more than 2.6 billion euros in express representation” to TAP corresponds to “260 euros for every man, woman and child in Portugal”. The Irish airline’s CEO urges the commissioner to stop “from expressly concession to domestic air carriers without a future, and which supplier to promote competition and consumer interest”.
A European Commission source told Lusa this Wednesday that a “period of up to 18 slots for a competing airline” will allow “to establish or develop its presence at Lisbon airport and reach a necessary scale to effectively compete with a tap”.
The selection process of the airline, which will have TAP slots, will be under the responsibility of the European Commission.
Brussels approved the Portuguese airline’s correction plan on Tuesday, but demanded some commitments, such as the loss of slots at Lisbon Airport and the sale or liquidation of assets in maintenance companies (which it has in Brazil), restoration and assistance on land (Groundforce).