Ryanair withdraws five aircraft from Vienna: 120 employees affected

This was confirmed by the head of Ryanair subsidiary Lauda, Andreas Gruber, to the APA on Thursday. With the relocation, one of the two Vienna bases, that of Malta Air Limited, will be closed by March 2026. According to Gruber, Ryanair is, however, maintaining the Lauda Europe base with 14 Airbus A320s.

120 Ryanair Employees Affected by Fleet Reduction in Vienna

The five Boeing aircraft from the Vienna Malta Air base are to be distributed to other airports. Affected employees of the Malta Air Crew Vienna pointed out in a letter this week that they and their families are facing a move abroad or termination. Ryanair aims to grow more strongly, especially in Spain and Italy, as well as in Eastern Europe.

There are also plans to expand the presence in the Slovak capital Bratislava. Ryanair has been operating a base there for 20 years and initially tried to market the local airport as "Vienna East." After the bankruptcy of Air Berlin and Niki in 2017, Ryanair itself came to Vienna by taking over Niki's successor, Laudamotion.

Flight Ticket Tax as Reason for Withdrawal

Ryanair blamed the federal government for the withdrawal of the five aircraft from Vienna, as it maintains the flight ticket tax. Recently, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary described Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) and Transport Minister Peter Hanke (SPÖ) as "hopeless" and "sleepy" because they did not comply with his demands for lower fees and taxes.

Ryanair and its long-time CEO O'Leary are known for putting pressure on municipalities and airport operators to achieve lower costs or even subsidies. Vienna Airport board member Julian Jäger supports Ryanair's call for the abolition or reduction of the flight ticket tax but stated that he would be doing something wrong as an airport manager if O'Leary were satisfied.

(APA/Red)

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