Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has called for Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands to be opened sooner in a bid to attract more tourists. On the low-cost carrier's website, Ryanair Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs derided comments made by Amsterdam Tourism CEO Frank van der Avert, who had blamed Ryanair for "destroying European cities", and laid out a strategy to boost tourism to the country.
In his five-point plan, Jacobs said that airport charges should be lowered to open up more routes and services, and also says that Lelystad airport should open sooner to commercial operations to provide more capacity to Amsterdam. The planned expansion of Lelystad airport is scheduled to be completed in 2018. Ryanair sees huge potential at the new airport. Speaking with the Telegraaf last year, Ryanair's Commercial Director David O'Brien said that they wanted "all the slots".
Jacobs' plan was a response to comments made by van der Avert last week at a tourism conference in Lucerne. According to Travel Weekly, van der Avert said that Europe's historical cities are dying due to increased tourism.
"Cities are dying from tourism. No one will be living in the historic centres any more," he said. "A lot of smaller historic cities in Europe are getting destroyed by visitors." He then went on to single out Ryanair specifically. "We see lots of visitors with no respect for the character of the city. Low cost carriers create a problem. Ryanair [passengers] – they are the loudest."
Jacobs said that the airline was "surprised by Mr van der Averts [sic] unhelpful remarks" and added that it plans to expand its operations in the Netherlands.
According to ch-aviation capacity data, Ryanair currently has a weekly seat capacity of 37233 to Dutch airports at Eindhoven, Amsterdam Schiphol and Maastricht.
