Ryanair, one of the most important airlines in Europe, recently said that it had to revise its growth plan for the Iasi Airport, in eastern Romania, due to its 25% charge increase.

The company argues in a press release that lower access costs lead to growth, and that airports all over Europe are reducing charges to increase capacity.

“Ryanair has strongly invested in Iasi over the previous 12 months, transporting over 250,000 passengers to/from Iasi but unfortunately, as a result of the excessive charge increases, Ryanair will not grow in S24 with this growth instead being allocated to other airports in Romania, such as Cluj, and further afield such as Poland,” the company press release states.

Ryanair calls the 25% increase in charges “bizarre,” seeing as the Iasi Airport only just recently opened a new terminal to increase capacity.

“These excessive charges make Iasi uncompetitive and mean the city and the region will lose out on connectivity and passenger growth in the coming years – growth which is now more valuable than ever given the capacity reductions by competing airlines in Romania this summer,” the company said.

The air carrier calls on the Iasi Airport to reduce charges to become competitive again.

“This sudden increase in airport charges is a non-sensical decision from the Iasi Airport considering the airport’s recent inauguration of a new terminal, Wizz Air’s reduction in operations – with over 20 canceled routes in Romania – and the concerted efforts of all EU and Romanian airports to attract Ryanair’s capacity," said Ryanair’s head of comms for Romania, Mauro Bolla.

"Romania’s inclusion in the Schengen area also promises enhanced connectivity and growth for air passengers, that Iasi Airport will fail to attract. Ryanair calls on Iasi Airport to urgently reduce charges to ensure there is increased growth and connectivity in the coming winter, which would significantly bolster the region’s economy,” he added.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dominik Fiebig | Dreamstime.com)