El Altet ‘buckles’ under Ryanair pressure

EL ALTET AIRPORT seems to have ‘buckled’ under the pressure of low-cost airline, Ryanair’s threats over fees. The news comes on the tail of recent threats to “cut up to 80 per cent of its operations at El Altet airport as of October if the Spanish Airports Authority (AENA) forces Ryanair to use ‘unnecessary’ boarding bridges at the new terminal.”

Airlines operating at El Altet’s new terminal – inaugurated on March 23 – must use boarding bridges to embark and disembark passengers, at a cost of more than €2million a year.

Alicante’s airport is planning tests on two of their 16 air-bays at the new terminal tomorrow (Friday) to assess the viability of embark and disembarking from aircraft.

It is not possible for passengers to embark and disembark the planes on foot for 14 of the 16 non-remote air-bays at the new terminal as it would jeopardize passenger safety.

The tests will assessing safety issues as well as measure the time taken to complete this method compared to using the air bridges.

By Nicole Hallett