Ryanair to close its Frankfurt-am-Main base

In a case of “throwing their toys out of the pram”, Ryanair is to close its base at Frankfurt-am-Main Airport and suspend operations to the airport.

As such Ryanair will suspend and cancel all routes from 31st March 2022. The aircraft will be reallocated from Frankfurt-am-Main (five in total) to other airports that have according to the airline ” responded with lower airport charges to stimulate traffic recovery.”

Ryanair goes on to moan about incentives and subsidies – and lack of, thereafter.

In full:

In a post Covid recovery phase, airports must incentivise traffic recovery, unfortunately Frankfurt instead of providing traffic recovery incentives, has chosen to increase prices even further, making Frankfurt uncompetitive with European airports. While Ryanair continues to invest in Germany (as evidenced by a $200m investment in a new two aircraft Nuremberg base), the German Govt continues to protect legacy carriers, such as Lufthansa who have soaked up €9bn in State aid rather than introduce non-discriminatory traffic recovery schemes open to all airlines.

Crews have been notified of the base closure at the end of March, with the airline offering them alternative positions within the Ryanair network.

Passenger impact

With the flights cancelled in and out of Frankfurt-am-Main, all passengers impacted by these flight cancellations will receive notifications and refunds over the coming days.

In Quotes

Ryanair’s Director of Commercial Jason McGuinness said:

“We are disappointed to announce the closure of our Frankfurt am Main base at the end of March 2022, but we have no alternative in response to a decision from the Airport to increase its airport fees, despite the collapse in traffic caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Ryanair continues to invest in German airports who understand the requirement to lower airport charges to recover traffic, competition in the German market has been massively distorted by the €9bn of State aid that was pumped into Lufthansa, who continues to cut its fleet, connections, and jobs.

Efficient operations and competitive airport fees provide the foundation from which Ryanair can deliver long-term traffic growth and increased connectivity for airports and regions. This is impossible at Frankfurt following the German Government’s decision to increase its passenger taxes, and the Airport’s decision to increase its already high and uncompetitive fees.

Ryanair continues to successfully negotiate the long-term low costs required from airports to underpin Ryanair’s industry leading low fares, which is driving Ryanair’s recovery and leading Europe’s post-Covid recovery.”

I’ve missed a good “toys being thrown out of their pram whine” by Ryanair. Haven’t you?

Seriously, I’ve missed Ryanair throwing its toys out of its pram in its drive to lower costs to itself, whilst trying to pass on the costs elsewhere on the supply chain.

It’s always struck me as odd that Ryanair would serve Frankfurt directly (with business customers being a major draw I suppose), compared to its normal home of “Frankfurt-Hann” some 120 kilometres (75 miles) away by road.

The airline is comparatively new to Frankfurt – with it serving the airport since 2017.

However, it seems that operations at Frankfurt-am-Main Airport are not sustainable for the airline, without additional aid.

And when every penny counts for an Ultra-Low-Cost Airline like Ryanair – expect the toys to be flung out when they don’t get their way.

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