UK-France flights hit as Ryanair announces it is leaving Bordeaux airport

Ryanair has confirmed it will stop all flights to and from Bordeaux airport, including three UK-France routes, by November 2024 citing rising airport fees.

The low-cost carrier said the decision was made due to fee increases to use Bordeaux-Mérignac airport that are coming into force from November. It already hinted that it may close the base in March.

Ryanair will not only stop using the airport as one of its four French bases but will stop flying to and from the airport altogether.

It will relocate the three aircraft stationed there to “cheaper destinations” elsewhere in Europe, it announced.

Flights already scheduled to depart before November will still run - and tickets are still on sale for these - however later flights have been removed from its schedule.

The move results in the loss of 40 Ryanair routes to and from Bordeaux, and the loss of over 90 jobs for Bordeaux-based pilots, cabin crew and engineers, the airline said.

Ryanair has flown to and from the airport for 14 years, and opened an operating base there five years ago.

It currently offers direct flights between Bordeaux and London, Birmingham, and Manchester airports in the UK. 

Other Ryanair destinations from Bordeaux include: Madrid Rome, Marrakesh and Valencia, with around 70 flights per week arriving or departing the airport during peak season.

Ryanair’s low-cost rival EasyJet, which also operates direct flights between the UK and Bordeaux, has not commented on the fee increases and continues to offer flights on its website after November.

An official spokesperson for Bordeaux airport said it “regrets” the departure but remains open to working with Ryanair in the future.

“We wanted to set commercial limits for the company, which did not appreciate this,” the source told local media outlet Sud-Ouest. 

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Airport wants to cut number of low-cost services 

“We are maintaining our strategy, which is to diversify the portfolio of airlines present,” the source added. 

The airport says it wants to cut the number of low-cost flights to and from the airport to 60% of traffic, believing the area has the potential to attract premium airlines.

It also wants to increase the number of routes from carriers such as AirFrance, KLM, and Lufthansa.

Currently, nearly three-quarters (72%) of flights to or from Bordeaux-Mérignac are from low-cost companies. 

Bordeaux-Mérignac was the eighth busiest airport in France, with more than 6.5 million passengers in 2023, according to statistics from the Union des aéroports français.

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New flights on Ryanair roster… but will any be in France? 

Ryanair’s commercial director Jason McGuinness said “The loss of Bordeaux will be a gain for other airports across Europe, and we are already in discussions with our Bordeaux-based workers to offer them similar positions at other Ryanair bases.”

However, it has not been confirmed yet if these planes, workers, and routes currently stationed in Bordeaux will be transferred to Ryanair’s other French bases or to airports elsewhere in Europe. 

Ryanair currently has French bases in Marseille, Toulouse, and Paris-Beauvais airports. It lists its current French destinations as: 

• Bergerac

• Beziers Cap d'Agde

• Biarritz

• Bordeaux (until November 2024)

• Brive

• Carcassonne

• Grenoble

• La Rochelle

• Limoges

• Lourdes–Pyrenees

• Marseille

• Nantes

• Nice

• Nimes

• Paris

• Perpignan

• Poitiers

• Rodez

• Toulouse

• Tours Loire Valley

Some of these are only seasonal routes and do not operate year round. 

The airline announced the creation of five new bases in Europe and North Africa over summer 2024 - but not in France. They are in Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Reggio Calabria, Tangier and Trieste.

Have you moved to a part of France which had good air links for your situation and then found the flights stopped or reduced? Tell us about it at news@connexionfrance.com