Low-cost airline Ryanair has criticized ANA’s proposal to raise airport taxes for 2024 and threatened to close its base in Madeira if costs are not reduced, according to a statement released today.
In the note, the carrier said that ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, operated by French company Vinci, “is trying to increase taxes excessively and unjustifiably throughout the country, including Lisbon (+18%), Porto (+13%), Faro (+12%), the Azores (+8%) and Madeira (+9%)”, warning that this will have “a very negative impact on connectivity, tourism and employment in Portugal, particularly in island economies”.
Ryanair believes that “there is no justification for these excessive price increases other than ANA’s already high airport charges”, noting that the airline “has no competition in Portugal”.
For Ryanair, this increase “is exactly the opposite of what Portuguese airports need”, particularly “those in Madeira and the Azores, which depend on low airport charges to boost” connectivity and tourism.
“Surprisingly, instead of trying to reduce the cost of access to the islands, ANA is trying to make access even more expensive,” he pointed out, with increases in fees in Madeira and the Azores, “in addition to the excessive increases applied last year, irreparably damaging the competitiveness of Madeira and the Azores.”
In the same note, Ryanair said that “it has already been forced to close its base in the Azores following previous ANA fee increases”, and called on the concessionaire “to reduce airport charges in order to avoid the same fate for Madeira”.
