Michael O’Leary, the always controversial CEO of Ryanair, has declared his interest in operating many more routes than the current ones at Barajas Airport. “We are interested in operating more capacity. We believe that Barajas has room to grow,” he added. This interest is best understood in the context of the open fight for slots at Madrid airport in the heat of its future expansion and possible release of slots by Iberia and Air Europa, the two airlines that currently account for most of Madrid’s air routes.
“We would like to open another forty or fifty routes in the city, some of them domestic,” he said. However, it will not be easy, as in the distribution process he will have to compete against other operators such as Volotea, Binter or Easyjet, which have also made public their interest in taking over short and medium-haul flights from Barajas.
Regarding the expansion of Barajas airport, O’Leary is positive but questions the budget of 2.4 billion euros, which he describes as excessive. “Madrid needs an expansion of its terminals and this should cost between 400 million and 600 million, not 2.4 billion” (…) “We do not need more marble cathedrals for local politicians, but a modest, efficient expansion at a reasonable price. But Aena is a regulated monopoly and likes big numbers, with which it can increase airline fares,” he concluded.
The statements may be controversial, but they reflect the sweet moment that aviation is going through in Spain: all airlines want to get their share of the pie, Ryanair, of course, among them.
