Five years after its opening, the Ryanair base at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport is already in danger. According to the Ryanair National Union of Cabin Crew (SNPNC-FO), which represents Ryanair flight attendants, the management of the Irish airline is threatening to close the base, “due to a commercial dispute with the Bordeaux airport”.
An extraordinary CSE was held on Thursday March 14, before an information meeting for employees the next day. “The company gave us…
Five years after its opening, the Ryanair base at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport is already in danger. According to the Ryanair National Union of Cabin Crew (SNPNC-FO), which represents Ryanair flight attendants, the management of the Irish airline is threatening to close the base, “due to a commercial dispute with the Bordeaux airport”.
An extraordinary CSE was held on Thursday March 14, before an information meeting for employees the next day. “The company told us that the new pricing conditions imposed by the airport mean that the presence of the base in Bordeaux would not be viable,” assures Damien Mourgues, union representative of the SNPNC-FO. “A price increase would not respect the initial contract. We don’t know any more. It is currently being arbitrated. But this extraordinary CSE shows that it is quite serious,” he continues. The SNPNC-FO published a press release on Tuesday to warn of the situation.
“The airport wants to double our charges, and we do not want to pay that,” confirmed to AFP the boss of the Irish airline, Michael O’Leary, on the sidelines of a summit of airline executives in Brussels . . “There is a real risk that we will close our base in Bordeaux, perhaps at the end of the summer season,” he said. “If the airport’s response is to ask us to pay twice as much, the answer is no. We will base our planes elsewhere. »
Established since April 2019 at Bordeaux airport, the Ryanair air base has three planes and employs around 120 employees (hostesses, stewards, pilots, technicians, etc.) “These are all French contracts. A closure would have repercussions on the local economy but it would also be dramatic for all the employees and their families based here since 2019, who will have to move elsewhere,” estimates Stéphane Salmon.
The “surprised” airport
Questioned Tuesday evening by “Sud Ouest”, Bordeaux-Mérignac airport said it was “very surprised” by the unions’ press release. “There is none of that in our discussions with Ryanair. They did not tell us that they risked closing the base,” he assured, recalling the contractual commitment and the fixed prices which are “public”.
To AFP, the airport said this Wednesday, March 20, that it “regretted that Ryanair had made its employees aware, without prior consultation with Bordeaux airport, of the possibility of closing its base, as is absolutely normal.” “as regrettable as Ryanair and its managers allow themselves to make totally erroneous public statements regarding the level of airport charges.”
“Despite Ryanair’s current nervousness, Bordeaux airport remains calm in the fact that Ryanair will not end a fourteen-year partnership without respecting its contractual obligations and appropriate treatment of its employees and subcontractors,” added the airport management.
Bitter in negotiations
The low-cost airline Ryanair is known to be particularly difficult in its negotiations, particularly with local players, as was the case in its long legal conflict with the Department of Charente, after its definitive departure from the airport. Angoulême-Cognac in 2010.
In January 2023, Ryanair decided to close its base at Brussels-Zaventem, due to the airport’s decision to increase prices by 11%. Connections to and from this airport had not been canceled. They continued to be provided by planes of the company operated outside Belgium.
At this stage, it is unclear whether Ryanair flights to and from Bordeaux will be affected if the base closes. According to the airport website, the Irish company operates around 70 weekly flights with its Bordeaux base. For the moment, the unions consider themselves “in the dark and waiting”.
Noise
A progress report on the impact study of noise pollution at Bordeaux airport was held on Tuesday March 19 at the prefecture, in the presence of parliamentarians, communities, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aeronautics associations and companies. The study’s conclusions are expected this summer.
