Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair DAC, indicated during an event in Madrid that the Granada airport, which the company left sixteen years ago after public subsidies ended, holds significant growth potential for the airline in Spain. However, this possibility is contingent upon a decrease in airport fees, a consistent demand from the Irish low-cost carrier.
Wilson cited Granada, along with Zaragoza, Menorca, and Jerez de la Frontera, as Spanish destinations with room for investment. He reiterated the need for lower airport fees in Spain to deploy more aircraft to the country, amidst plans to receive 300 new aircraft in the coming years. "I want to place as many planes as I can in Spain, but the cost structure needs to change," he stated during a Nueva Economía Forum meeting.
The executive criticized Aena's "monopoly" status, noting that it allocates 80% of its profits to shareholders, while major airports like Madrid and Barcelona are saturated and regional ones are "on life support" or empty. "If I were a politician in Spain, I would encourage the government to fill the empty infrastructure. It's scandalous," he remarked, suggesting that "you just need to adjust it with prices" in underutilized facilities.
Regarding Galicia, Wilson expressed a desire to return to Santiago and Vigo but noted that "the price structure does not support that reality." He identified Albania, Turkey, and Morocco as competitive countries for Spain, highlighting their increasing competitiveness in attracting tourists. He cited measures from other destinations, such as the elimination of municipal tax in Italy and the abolition of the environmental tax in Sweden.
In the European aviation sector, Wilson believes the market is characterized by the consolidation of four major groups (IAG, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa Group, and Ryanair), which could slow down growth on the continent. He anticipates an increase in air ticket prices in the short to medium term.
Lastly, concerning the balance between growing tourism and social sustainability, he pointed to the lack of affordable housing and the phenomenon of tourist apartments as issues for local governments to address. He suggested "alternatives to traditional housing" and warned against accommodating more people in cities like Barcelona or Venice without changing the tourism offering.
