Monday, December 29, 2008
Ryanair flights from Liverpool to Santiago de Compostela
It now seems almost certain that the scheduled Liverpool to Santiago de Compostela service operated by Ryanair over 2007 and 2008 has been terminated.
Neither Ryanair or Liverpool airport include any details of this route as a destination that is “on hold” or otherwise out of commission. Given the fact that the route details are normally maintained – even though booking is not possible when the route is “rested” – the conclusion has to be that the route is now discontinued.
There are a number of possible reasons for this, but all relate to the subsidising (or otherwise) of the route by the Galician Xunta.
One possibility is a combination of the change in regional government since the original agreement was made (which has now ended), combined with negative local press about the clientele that Ryanair were delivering to Galicia.
Regrettably, Ryaniar appeared to promote the route as a short break destination with stag night and binge drinking implications. At least this is how the Galician press seemed to see it, and this may have contributed to a discontinuation in the routes funding.
A further problem is that the flights, although busier in 2008 than 2007, have rarely been full to capacity. Even so, in both April and September we flew on nearly full planes and in July and August there were no vacant seats.
All told, it would seem that the reasons for the route’s discontinuation may be every bit as political as it is economic.
If this is the case, and the Galician Xunta (parliament) are behind the move, they may well have made a grave error.
Santiago de Compostela airport operated only 3 international flights during the entire day on which we departed the airport (in late September).
This is hardly the performance of an up and coming international airport.
When you add to this the fact that Santiago, la Cornua and Vigo international airports operate fewer international flights combined than nearby Porto airport (in Portugal), it suggests that Galicia has a problem in attracting, or supporting international carriers.
Loosing Ryanair may not turn out to be a prudent move, particularly as they now carry more travellers than any other airline, budget or otherwise!
The other problem, as I have said before, is that for all its beauty and charm, Galicia is now competing for tourism (its potentially biggest export) with all of the “now open” former eastern European countries. To make matters worse, these are countries that actively seek the likes of Ryanair and, once they have them onboard, do everything that they can to keep them.
I genuinely believe that any hope for real tourism in the Galician economy may now have come to an end.
Many Galician regionalists may think this a good conclusion, but they should be reminded that the preservation of the language and, much more importantly, the heritage and culture of the region could be supported and nurtured by tourist money.
Where will that money come from now? I suspect that the loss of Ryanair air, and the ripples that it will send out to other commercial enterprises associated with travel and tourism, will be seen in the future as a catastrophic mistake.
Hopefully I will be proved wrong.
Neither Ryanair or Liverpool airport include any details of this route as a destination that is “on hold” or otherwise out of commission. Given the fact that the route details are normally maintained – even though booking is not possible when the route is “rested” – the conclusion has to be that the route is now discontinued.
There are a number of possible reasons for this, but all relate to the subsidising (or otherwise) of the route by the Galician Xunta.
One possibility is a combination of the change in regional government since the original agreement was made (which has now ended), combined with negative local press about the clientele that Ryanair were delivering to Galicia.
Regrettably, Ryaniar appeared to promote the route as a short break destination with stag night and binge drinking implications. At least this is how the Galician press seemed to see it, and this may have contributed to a discontinuation in the routes funding.
A further problem is that the flights, although busier in 2008 than 2007, have rarely been full to capacity. Even so, in both April and September we flew on nearly full planes and in July and August there were no vacant seats.
All told, it would seem that the reasons for the route’s discontinuation may be every bit as political as it is economic.
If this is the case, and the Galician Xunta (parliament) are behind the move, they may well have made a grave error.
Santiago de Compostela airport operated only 3 international flights during the entire day on which we departed the airport (in late September).
This is hardly the performance of an up and coming international airport.
When you add to this the fact that Santiago, la Cornua and Vigo international airports operate fewer international flights combined than nearby Porto airport (in Portugal), it suggests that Galicia has a problem in attracting, or supporting international carriers.
Loosing Ryanair may not turn out to be a prudent move, particularly as they now carry more travellers than any other airline, budget or otherwise!
The other problem, as I have said before, is that for all its beauty and charm, Galicia is now competing for tourism (its potentially biggest export) with all of the “now open” former eastern European countries. To make matters worse, these are countries that actively seek the likes of Ryanair and, once they have them onboard, do everything that they can to keep them.
I genuinely believe that any hope for real tourism in the Galician economy may now have come to an end.
Many Galician regionalists may think this a good conclusion, but they should be reminded that the preservation of the language and, much more importantly, the heritage and culture of the region could be supported and nurtured by tourist money.
Where will that money come from now? I suspect that the loss of Ryanair air, and the ripples that it will send out to other commercial enterprises associated with travel and tourism, will be seen in the future as a catastrophic mistake.
Hopefully I will be proved wrong.
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Just a quick note to let you know I have found a fairly cheap flight to SDC, again the downside is it's from London.
LOWFAREFLIGHTS
Also as of today 07/02/09 Ryanair are doing flights to Porto from as little as £6.49 in August each way.
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LOWFAREFLIGHTS
Also as of today 07/02/09 Ryanair are doing flights to Porto from as little as £6.49 in August each way.
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