Ryanair. Modlin. Sharp cuts to connections

“Ryanair (…) will reduce traffic at Warsaw Modlin Airport by 50 percent for the winter of 2024. This decision results from the failure of over a year of negotiations with the airport management regarding obtaining a competitive cost base, which would enable Ryanair to further develop very low-cost flights at Modlin in the winter season of 2024,” the carrier said in a statement.

The airline also said the cuts “mean a reduction in the number of Ryanair aircraft based at Modlin from five to four from the end of October.” It added that “50 jobs are being lost” and said some passenger traffic from Modlin “will be transferred to new routes and new capacity” at Warsaw Chopin Airport.

The carrier announced that it would continue negotiations with the new management team of Warsaw-Modlin Airport, which – as written – is to be appointed in mid-September this year. It added that if “an agreement is not reached on a competitive cost base, similar to those offered at other airports in Poland”, the airline “will not be able to build an increase in the number of low-cost connections” at this airport.

Ryanair's commercial director Jason McGuinness, quoted in the press release, said that “reduced capacity will mean higher ticket prices for consumers, reflecting unjustified higher costs at Modlin.”

“We cannot accept these long delays or incur losses at Modlin in the 2024 winter season (…) while management tries to impose charges typical of major airports. We regret these cuts but they will create more opportunities for development at other Polish airports, including Warsaw Chopin Airport,” McGuinness said.

The information he provided also indicates that Ryanair will continue to offer 22 connections to/from Modlin and six routes to/from Chopin Airport in the upcoming winter season.

PAP asked the Warsaw-Modlin Airport press team for comment on the matter. Krzysztof Olszewski, managing director of ASP Media Solutions, a company providing external communication services for the airport, responded by saying that “the airport management will not comment on this matter for now.”

At the end of January this year, the then vice-president of Warsaw-Modlin Airport, Grzegorz Hlebowicz, announced that the airport “has not changed its airport charges for a decade”, adding that “changes are necessary if Modlin Airport is to develop”.

In mid-July this year, the airport announced that the airport's supervisory board had initiated a procedure for the chairman of the board and two vice-chairmen. It added that job interviews would be held at the company's headquarters from 19 August.

Ryanair is an Irish air carrier that operates from 13 airports in Poland.

The Warsaw-Modlin Mazovian Airport is located 37 km from the center of Warsaw, near the S7 expressway and the Warsaw-Modlin railway line. The airport serves, among others, regular Ryanair flights.