Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
National Aviation Policy: Ryanair
Mr. Eddie Wilson:
We do. What has happened this year in Germany, with the bailout for Lufthansa from the German Government, is interesting. The company has retired 150 aircraft and in July and August this year, the total German short-haul market reduced by around 25%. Air fares from Germany subsequently went up dramatically. We should be worried about that because Ryanair will not be able to fill that gap entirely due to high airport charges. We should be cognisant, particularly on this island with regard to in-bound tourism, that in the short term, after Covid-19, the short-haul market has got smaller. We are taking a larger slice, in the short term, of a dwindling cake in terms of short-term capacity. We have been successful in Germany and we will grow there but that growth will be capped out because Germany is one of the countries in which we have had the slowest growth over the past 12 months. We are likely to put aircraft elsewhere.
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