Visit Azores denies having broken contract with Ryanair

A the administration of the association Visit Azores, responsible for the promotion of tourism in the Azores, today rejected having broken any contract with Ryanair and accused the airline of incoherence in the justifications for having ceased to fly to the region.

‘It does not correspond to the truth that Visit Azores has broken any contract with Ryanair’, the Association’s Board of Directors stated in a statement.

The low-cost airline, which had been flying to the Azores since 2015, abandoned the route at the end of March, justifying the decision with airport charges and European environmental taxation.

On Tuesday, in the margins of the inauguration of a new maintenance hangar at Porto airport, Ryanair’s CEO (CEO), Eddie Wilson, said that in the Azores “the problem was that they broke the contract”, adding that the company “does not do business with those who break contracts”.

“ If it is possible to find reliable people in the Azores — people who do not break contracts — I would be very happy to talk to them,” he said when asked about a possible return.

In response, Visit Azores claimed that the promotion contract referred to “was concluded during previous mandates” to the current Board of Directors, adding that “its implementation was conditional on the subsequent decision of Ryanair itself to abandon the operation in the Azores and consequently did not produce the effects initially foreseen”.

The association added that the statements of Ryanair’s executive president “are not consistent with the grounds previously made publicly by the company” and seek to assign to the association “responsibilities for matters that do not depend” on it.

“ The Commission considers that the aid granted to Ryanair is compatible with the internal market. None of these fees are defined by the Autonomous Region of the Azores or by Visit Azores, nor is it in the sphere of their competences”, he said.

The administration of Visit Azores has nevertheless stressed that it remains, “as always, entirely available to dialogue with Ryanair and any other airline interested in operating in the Azores, in a context of seriousness, mutual trust, respect for the obligations assumed and compliance with all applicable legal provisions”.

“ The current board of directors of Visit Azores reaffirms that its actions are governed by principles of rigor, transparency, responsibility and compliance with the commitments made, essential to the construction and maintenance of solid and reliable relations with all its partners”, he said.