Travel Question of the Day: Simon Calder on why Ryanair is ending flights to and from Pescara in Italy

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Ryanair: Like other carriers, it designs its network to maximise profit

Q Ryanair is stopping flying to Pescara in Italy at the end of October. Why? It is the only airline to fly there from the UK. Many people will lose their jobs, and the tourist industry for the area will suffer. There are many people like ourselves who have been travelling there for many years and have bought houses taking into account the distance from the airport. We have a 40-minute journey to our house, but the next nearest location is Ancona - at least a two-hour drive. Do you know if there is any discussions with other airlines to take this route over? Just wondered if you have any advice on what we can do or if you can shed any light on what's going on?

Judi Blake

A Ryanair announced in February that it would close its base in the lovely Adriatic city of Pescara, with the loss of the route from Stansted. The airline blamed: "The illogical decision of the Italian Government to again raise municipal taxes, which will damage Italian tourism, traffic and jobs." Ryanair says charges have risen from €6.50 to €9 for every passenger, and alleges that the proceeds will go to a fund set up for former pilots with the national airline, Alitalia.

As the biggest budget airline in Europe, Ryanair has huge clout. As you have found, flying a route to a city like Pescara brings huge benefits to the community and to visitors. But the carrier also has a history of dropping routes regardless of the strength of feeling in the local customer base. It will look dispassionately at the most efficient way to deploy the plane, pilots and cabin crew, and will not hesitate to deploy resources elsewhere.

Revenue on a particular route depends on what passengers are prepared to pay, which is affected by competition and fares from nearby airports. An airline's costs are, to a large extent, beyond its control: pay, aircraft leases and fuel are dependent on market conditions. One area in which there is some flexibility is airport charges. The airport operator can cut them dramatically in exchange for an undertaking to fly a specified number of passengers in and out. Or, as in this case, airlines may cut services if the authorities bring in a steep rise in taxes.

I imagine if Ryanair has decided to close its base at Pescara airport there is little anyone can do to lure the airline back - apart from the authorities offering some fresh flexibility on charges. Ryanair is the master at extracting “marketing support,” which others might characterise as a subsidy in return for flying a particular route. But I fear discussions on how the increased Italian taxes could be offset have already taken place with Pescara airport, and do not appear to have ended well. And if Ryanair cannot make a satisfactory profit on a specific route, then it is unlikely that another airline will try.

Pescara has not vanished entirely from the schedules; Ryanair will still be flying from Charleroi in Belgium and Milan Bergamo, so you could in theory make a connection. But given the risks associated with "self-connecting" between low-cost flights, flying to Ancona - or even Rome - probably makes more sense.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers’ questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder