Ryanair, which incidentally serves its gin in plastic bags, has cancelled all flights to Fuerteventura after deciding that the local tourism department was not promoting its flights heavily enough. (According to The Times).
This means that anybody who has booked a flight to Fuerteventura through Ryanair for next year is, in a word, stuffed. They will get their flights refunded, but hotels or cars they’ve booked are up to them.
This follows on only a few months after Ryanair did the same to Valencia. Ryanair is famous for forcing smaller airports to pay for cheap landing slots and lots of advertising in exchange for guaranteeing a certain number of passengers (a practice which is under study by the EU, by the way). If the local airport doesn’t play ball, or gets uppity, then they just pull out leaving behind a slightly unpleasant smell. Symptomatic of their arrogant, bullying, “people are cattle” attitude. Makes the Euesdens look like amateurs.
I’ve only ever flown Ryanair once, about 8 years ago, and it was such an unpleasent experience that I will pay up to €150 more to go with other airlines. Not easyjet. Monarch is the current flavour of the month, although their policy of charging for bags annoyed me. But I do enjoy their Gold service.
When Ryanair first came to our beautiful island, they signed an agreement with AIE, the commercial tourism group, by which AIE were to put €1Ml. into the kitty, to promote the island. When one considers that the island has been promoted in Poland, where cash is tight, & China, where no one has yet come from (as far as I can find out from contacts), would the cash not be better spent keeping 23 flights a week, with those on cheap flights spending more when they land.
As for the desparaging remarks about Ryanair, I used to travel by Aer Lingus, BA, Midlands, from Ireland to UK & pay up to €350 for the privilege, so I will keep flying with them. They consider the flying as the equivalent of bus travel, it’s just a way to get from A to B, they must be doing something right, a lot of us travel with them.
By the way, they are suing AIE as an entity, & each individual member who signed the document, I think they would have been better to pay up & look happy
AIE should pay up, they made a deal and should stick with it. Ryanair will be a huge loss to Fuerteventura, last year carried 250,000 people to the island, that’s a lot of spending power. I travel there five or six times a year, sometimes getting low prices from Ryanair. I will be one person that will not travel as frequently. AIE stick to the deal you made or you will be the losers.
Re Comment by a nameless person re ‘Ryanair bullies Fuerteventura’
You say that you are happy to agree to pay over and above the cost of a low cost Ryanair airline ticket but you haven’t explained why? In any Boing 737, 800 series aircraft, the seat you sit in will be the same in comfort and in size so what is it about eating an aircraft dinner with plastic knives and forks and watching a brain numbing movie when you can take your own favourite film onboard to watch or listen to your own music, what is it that makes you unhappy with a service that millions enjoy? You must be deluding yourself are you a snob? I believe your comment is unreasonable if you have only flow on one occasion with Ryanair perhaps you don’t really fly much at all? I have flow 20+ times with Ryanair to Fuerteventura and 50+ elsewhere and never experienced any problems that I might reasonably expect to find by any other airline company. We will see if you agree to paying 150 euros above the cost of a Ryanair flight ticket once the credit crunch has kicked in. If you are a ‘banker’ lets hope you paid yourself enough bonus because you will need it.
Ryanair is fecking crap. Rude, unhelpful staff. Unreasonable hours. Bloody useless airports. Expensive bags, and when you pay for them they damage them.
I avoid them like the plague, and am proud of the fact. Sooner they are wiped from the face of the Earth the better.
So how do we get to Fuerteventura now without Ryanair. I have no complaints about their service, cheap when you purchase in time no frills. It gets me to where I want to go usually on time
God, even their website is atrocious! It hurts my eyes!!! 😯
Well, Travel Supermarket.com suggests a stopover in Madrid.
FlyThomasCook.com has some London – Fuerteventura flights.
And here are all the airlines currently operating out of Fuerteventura according to AENA (airports authority):
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=1056529998561&pagename=subHome&Language=ES_ES&SMO=6&SiteName=FUE&c=Page&MO=1
I really love your blog!!
Really cool blog. I found it on yahoo. I am looking forward to read more posts.
Is there anyone out there who can tell me the best way to get to Fuerteventura from Ireland
Via Dusseldorf? 😯
Good evening,
I am part of a group actively campaigning to restore Ryanair flights to Fuerteventura. We have managed to arrange a one hour radio programme on a Dublin Radio station (www.q102.ie) on monday 13/7/09 and a newspaper article in a reputable Dublin journal last Sunday http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/jul/19/holiday-home-owners-heap-pressure-on-ryanair-cance/ We still have no response from Ryanair or from the politicians in Fuerteventura. In particular we are looking for contact details for 2 tourism related politicians, Rita Martin and Agueda Montelongo. Can you help as we are determined to succeed in our aim?
Thanks,
Dave
I would never never fly Ryanair again they lied and cheated us on our fair.
Dave,
Rita Martin is the consejeria of tourism at the Gobierno de Canarias and you can contact her through them. Their web site is Gobcan.es. Agueda is the tourism minister for the Cabildo of Fuerteventura and to email her you need to go through their web site which is cabildofuer.es.
The most vociferous voices to bring back Ryanair comes from the ex-pats living here. After investing in life here by buying property & setting up businesses, we are all suffering, so much so, that the word on the street is that over 15,000 properties have been abandoned by disillusioned mortgage holders. The banks are inundated with people trying to remortgage/delay paying, or handing back keys. The banks are being very bolshie, as the government has asked them to give a moratorium on repayments. In effect when you apply the banks make you do all the paperwork, then say no.
So the loss of Ryanair is a serious blow, not just a source for glib comment. Get real people, they are the largest for a reason, now even larger than Easyjet. They must be doing something right for so many to fly with them.
Let me know how you get on
John
Hi I also have a house in Fuerteventura and Ryanair are a huge loss. I have just e mailed the tourism department and asked them to sit down with Ryanair and get them back. Anyone with a interest in Fuerteventura should do the same.