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Did Ryanair boss just hint that Murcia Corvera airport will be one of their new bases?

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Ryanair’s planned expansion in Spain will include new bases in medium-sized airports, provided airport tax rises don’t threaten that investment

Did Ryanair boss just hint that Murcia Corvera airport will be one of their new bases?

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson hinted in comments at a tourism event in Madrid this Monday, January 22, just before the annual International Tourism Fair (FITUR), that one of the airline’s five new planned bases in Spain could be in Murcia’s Corvera Airport.

Specifically, he said medium-sized airports, “such as Murcia, Valladolid, Vigo, Santander or Cadiz, among others, are places that need tourism all year round and only Ryanair can offer that volume in the next five years.”

In a meeting with President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, last week, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary announced that the airline would invest 5 billion euros in Spain by 2030, including a plan to open five new bases in the country.

The comments added to this by Mr Wilson yesterday about medium-sized airports led Corvera Airport’s unofficial Twitter account, @AeropuertoRMU, to wonder aloud, “Will they be the 5 bases that their CEO said they plan to open in the coming years?”

If that were the case, it would mean lots more Ryanair flights in and out of Corvera, an airport that has historically suffered from a lack of year-round international flight destinations.

However, this speculation may be premature as Ryanair’s expansion plans in Spain could be dependent on airport tax rises being moderated.

Minister for Transport and Sustainable Mobility in Spain, Óscar Puente, said last week that airport operator Aena would be introducing a 4.09% increase in tariffs from this March, a rise in rates that is still below those of pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Unimpressed, Eddie Wilson said, “This 4% rise we think needs to be reversed, but also, we need to put in incentives in the regions of Spain, and that will drive tourist numbers 12 months in the year, not just to the beaches or the coast.”

If Ryanair believes it is going to be too expensive for them to operate in Spain, hinted Mr Wilson, then “it may be more attractive to operate at airports in other countries such as Italy, Greece or Morocco”.

Aena’s president, Maurici Lucena, was sharing the stage with Wilson, and defended the airport tax rate increases, saying that the extra revenue would be used to expand airports.

“Fares have fallen by 11% between 2015 and 2023, in a period in which inflation in Spain grew by 21%, so if a tax rise of 4.09% is approved, fares this year would still be below their 2019 level,” he said.