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Ryanair has confirmed that it will shut
down 12 Buzz routes, lay off up to 400 staff, and ground all Buzz
routes for "at least" the month of April, following the takeover
of its rival.
The Irish no-frills airline, which agreed to buy Buzz from its parent
company KLM (as previously covered
on Natives) has also stated that it will make a decision on 1 May
regarding Buzz, which it says is in an "extremely precarious" financial
position and is losing more than £600,000 a week.
 Large
redundencies planned
In a statement released last week, Ryanair said that while the sale
of Buzz is still subject to regulatory approvals, it is intended
that if the take-over is completed on 1 April, "a final decision
will be taken on whether to restart flying as planned on 1 May 2003,
or close Buzz altogether.This period will allow Buzz to effect up
to 400 redundancies".
However, Ryanair added that there will be "increased pay and productivity
allowances for Buzz remaining 200 staff."
Refunds offered
Ryanair said that passengers who presently
have bookings on flights after 1st April 2003 will be offered a
full refund of their fare. Passengers will be able to rebook themselves
with new tickets, from 12th March 2003, on existing or alternative
destinations.
Twelve routes will be discontinued from 31 March 2003. In its statement,
Ryanair said: "These are routes that are not currently served on
a daily basis by Buzz, and as a result the schedule frequency is
insufficient to sustain profitability."
Ski routes compromised
Many of these destinations could severly affect travellers looking
for a low cost solution to getting out to ski resorts. Some of the
flights terminated include Geneva and Chambery airports. Grenoble
is offered as an alternative, but this may well not be as convenient
for many people.
"Buzz will continue discussions with these airports over the coming
months and our objective will be to secure a low cost base and efficient
facilities, which will enable Buzz to offer at least daily or double
daily services at very low fares to those markets as soon as additional
aircraft are required." However, Ryanair said 12 Buzz routes will
continue from 1 May, with increased frequencies, and that fares
on all continuing Buzz routes will be 50% lower, with double the
seat capacity to Germany, France and Spain.
Other routes increased
It said: "One of the major contributors to Buzz's current losses
is the fact that many of Buzz's routes are served inadequately,
either once a day (when they should be twice or three times daily)
or just three or four times weekly when they should at least be
daily.
"In addition Buzz will be operating almost all Boeing 737 aircraft
on many of these routes which will ensure that seat capacity increases
by at least 100% for Summer 2003 over the capacity offered by Buzz
in Summer 2002."
[Source: Travelmole.com]
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