Low-cost airline Ryanair to continue in Girona until 2016

Girona (ACN).- The low-cost airline company Ryanair will remain in the Girona airport until 2016. The decision was made after the company made an agreement with AGi, an association formed by the Catalan Government, the Girona Provincial Council and the Girona Chamber of Commerce. The objective of the new agreement is to promote tourism in Girona counties and increase accessibility in the territory for new markets by offering new routes. Ryanair plans to maintain its number of passengers in the Girona airport, totalling to 4 million annually. This means having 10 planes during the summer season and 6 during winter. The president of AGi, Manel Nadal, affirmed that the agreement has dispelled any doubts about the permanence of Ryanair in Girona.

Next summer, the company will operate 64 routes. 9 new routes will be added to Ryanair’s offer, with flights to Cochstedt (Germany), Karlstad (Sweden), Kristianstad (Norway), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Rzeszow (Poland), Szczecin (Poland), Skelleftea (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and Zadar (Croatia).

With the agreement, AGi committed to increasing marketing and publicity for Girona territories through Ryanair advertising channels. The agreement is to be ratified into future contracts within the next few weeks, which will define the operational and economic framework of the two parties.

The company previously signed an agreement with AGI until the end of 2011, but after Ryanair began flying out of the Barcelona Airport in September, pressures to be the cheapest airline to fly out of Girona increased. Ryanair demanded that 12 million euros stay in Girona, an amount that the government refused to pay. Currently, Ryanair has the summer season locked and will not sell tickets beyond March. This situation has forced both parties to begin new negotiations to address the situation.