The Dublin company threatens to step back due to the debt of 200 thousand euros of the previous 2014-2017 co-marketing, not paid by Pantelleria, Castelvetrano, Campobello di Mazara and Poggioreale
The incessant march of the Vincenzo Florio airport of Trapani Birgi towards the rise in the number of passengers risks a new stop. This time it is not Covid that jeopardizes the efforts made in one year by the Sicilian Region, the majority shareholder, and by the management of Airgest, the management company, but the default of some Trapani municipalities still indebted to Ryanair, of 200 thousand euros of the previous 2014-2017 co-marketing agreement.
«I received a phone call from the Ryanair representative – said the president of Airgest, Salvatore Ombra – who complained that he had not yet received the balance of the previous debt, promised several times and always postponed. This has made the airline rigid enough to question the continuation of its activities on Trapani Birgi. I cannot fail to express my deepest disappointment – concluded Ombra – for those who, for so little, risk frustrating the commitment of the Region and ours ».
Current routes and a call for three years of risky activity
Since Salvatore Ombra’s resumption of the presidency of the management company of the Vincenzo Florio airport in Trapani Birgi, Ryanair, to which the airport owes the golden moment of its recent history with about two million passengers reached, has been the subject of a lockout courtship by the current management to bring the Dublin company back to invest in the site, recovering the trust of the most famous low cost. In exchange for the balance of part of the debt, the routes operated by Ryanair to Trapani were confirmed and expanded, which are currently Bergamo, Pisa, Bologna, Karlsruhe Baden Baden. Moreover, Ryanair has just won the tender, financed with regional funds, for another three years of intense activity.
All municipal debts to the Irish airline
«Everything – says Salvatore Ombra – is now put at risk by the municipalities of Pantelleria, Castelvetrano, Campobello di Mazara, Poggioreale and, indirectly from the whole territory, since the Chamber of Commerce of Trapani and other municipalities had undertaken to cover the shortcomings of the defaulters. I will discuss – explains Salvatore Ombra – with the president Nello Musumeci on the actions to be taken to solve this new catch, which does not depend on us, but which seriously threatens the future of the airport and the right of Trapani to fly ».
The residual debt of 200 thousand euros refers to the contract signed by the municipalities of the province of Trapani together with the CCIAA, leader and underwriter, to guarantee Ryanair routes in the period 2014-2017. The carrier has regularly honored its commitments while the municipalities are still lacking towards it.
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