Ryanair reaches agreement with ANA to maintain a smaller base in Faro, saving half the jobs

The low cost airline has managed to reach an agreement with ANA – Airports of Portugal to keep two aircraft parked in the Algarve in the low-season resulting in half of the jobs set to be lost being saved.

Ryanair revealed in a statement that it had reached “an agreement with the Faro Airport operator [ANA – Airports of Portugal] that could allow the announced closure of the base and relocation of the three planes to be cancelled.”

Without revealing too many details of the terms of the deal that was negotiated, the company source explained that the airport manager made a particular effort to “maintain the base of the only company operating in Faro throughout the entire year”.

Therefore, instead of the Algarve airport losing its three Ryanair aircraft in January next year, as was going to happen before the recent agreement was arranged, the base will only lose one plane, meaning two planes will be stationed there.

According to the Irish company, the Faro crew also have been given “seasonal contracts that reflect the seasonal nature of traffic to and from the Algarve. Thus, the company expects to save at least half of the workers it planned to lay off, which amounts to around 100 people.

“While this agreement preserves the majority of cabin pilot and crew jobs in Faro this winter, the reduction in the base from three to just two aircraft requires the elimination of 80 jobs among our Faro crew members,” Michael O’Leary explained.

“However, the final number of job losses can be reduced to less than 50 if some of these cabin crews fill vacancies at other Ryanair bases in Europe,” he added.

The Faro base went live in March of 2010, just two months after the Irish airline opened its first base in Portugal, in Porto. Ryanair announced the closure of the Faro base about a month ago in front of the national crew union after a minimum services mediation meeting for the strike that was called in August. Tomorrow, a new meeting of the company with the union is scheduled, where an agreement can be signed to cancel another strike, which is scheduled for the 27^th of September.