Ryanair steps on the accelerator in Catalonia. The Irish low cost already announced at the beginning of the season its largest schedule at Aena airports in the autonomous community for this summer, with more planes (fourteen based in El Prat and one in Girona) and more routes than ever. But one thing is the seats that the airlines put up for sale and another is the ones that actually end up selling and filling up with passengers. Now, with the summer air campaign already underway –it runs from April to October– and at the gates of the summer peak, the company has enough visibility over reservations to affirm that, indeed, it can break the record for travelers in Catalonia counting the Barcelona airports. , Girona and Reus.
"The load factor of our aircraft is at 94%, so we hope to meet our objectives," says Elena Cabrera, spokesperson for Ryanair in Spain. The company has programmed 5.9 million parking spaces in El Prat this summer, 1.2 million for Girona and another 527,000 in Reus.
In Barcelona, the capacity deployed in summer is 9% higher than that of 2019, a record year, explains Cabrera. For its entire fiscal year (from April 2023 to March 2024) Ryanair plans even greater growth in El Prat, with 8.9 million scheduled seats, 14% more than in the previous year and 17% above from the pre-pandemic. "Barcelona works very well and demand remains high, we trust the airport," Cabrera emphasizes. In total, it offers 72 routes, five of them new, with an increase in frequency of 22.
In Barcelona, it has established itself as the second airline behind Vueling, the undisputed leader at the airport with a 42% share. But while the IAG airline has its growth compromised while waiting to unravel various labor negotiations with its worker groups, Ryanair has a free hand to increase its presence. Hence its commitment to Reus and Girona, where it dominates the market.
At the first airport, the summer programming far exceeds that of 2019, the previous record year. Then, the low cost transported 408,710 passengers in Reus, according to data consulted by Aena, 29% less than those expected to move this summer. In Girona, on the other hand, the capacity for this season is still somewhat below 2019 (200,000 fewer passengers), although it also exceeds the figures of last year.
With these three levers, Barcelona, Reus and Girona, the airline wants to continue gaining share in Catalonia. Also grow in Madrid, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, highly coveted places now that Iberia and Air Europa will probably have to give up flight rights (slots) to materialize their merger. The Irish group Ryanair entered Spain more than 1,883 million euros in its last fiscal year, ended on March 31, three times more than in 2021. The rate of growth in Spain exceeds the total increase in turnover of the company low cost in the year and consolidates the country as its second market in sales, only behind Italy (2,364 million euros) and above the United Kingdom (1,589 million).
