Ryanair Blames Airport Charges Hike For Bordeaux Base Closure

Ryanair is blaming rising airport charges for its decision to close a base at Bordeaux Airport (BOD) in southwestern France.

The Irish ULCC intends to shut the three-aircraft base in November, affecting around 90 pilots, cabin crew and engineers. Staff will be offered similar positions at alternative bases in the airline’s network.

CCO Jason McGuinness said Ryanair had “no financial alternative” other than to close the base after talks with BOD’s management broke down. “Bordeaux’s loss will be a gain for other airports across Europe,” he added.

Ryanair launched flights to Bordeaux in December 2009 and opened a base in the city almost a decade later in June 2019. Sabre Market Intelligence figures show that the airline carried around 1.6 million passengers on flights to and from BOD in 2023, marking a year-on-year rise of 15%.

According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the airline is the second-largest operator from BOD during the summer 2024 season, accounting for 27.8% of all departure seats. EasyJet is the largest, with a 32.5% capacity share.

The base closure will result in “the loss of 40 Ryanair routes to/from Bordeaux,” the carrier said in a statement, but declined to confirm whether BOD would continue to receive flights using aircraft based elsewhere.

However, it appears that the airline will exit the market completely given that the group’s network from Bordeaux this summer totals 39 nonstop routes. These include international flights to Brussels Charleroi, Dublin, London Stansted and Rome Fiumicino, as well as domestic service to Marseille Provence and Figari, Corsica. Analysis of scheduled data shows that it faces direct competition on 18 of the 39 routes served.

Bordeaux Airport is Ryanair’s third-largest point in France by capacity, trailing behind its bases at Paris Beauvais and Marseille Provence. Additionally, Ryanair operates a fourth base in Toulouse, which also ranks as its fourth-largest operation in the country.

The impending closure will deal a substantial blow to BOD, as Ryanair has been a primary driver of capacity expansion in recent years, experiencing a 72% increase this summer compared to summer 2019. While Volotea is also boosting capacity by 14.2% this summer, easyJet (-5.5%), Air France (-47.6%) and KLM (-13.7%) are scheduled to operate below pre-pandemic levels.

In total, BOD handled 6.6 million passengers in 2023, recovering to 85% of its 2019 traffic. Work to expand the departures area in its Billi terminal is in the pipeline, while construction of a €100 million ($108 million) new building between Halls A and B is expected to commence in 2026.

The airport has been approached for comment on the Ryanair base closure. However, a spokesperson told the AFP news agency it had “put limits on the financial demands” of Ryanair and would look to diversify the airlines operating from BOD.

Earlier this month, Air Transat resumed transatlantic service from Montréal, with six flights per week, while new routes for the summer season include easyJet’s flights to Funchal, Madeira, and Volotea’s service to Verona, Italy.