Ryanair accuses Portugal of blocking “unlawfully” new routes to Morocco

Low-cost airline company Ryanair has accused Portuguese authorities of “unlawfully” blocking three new routes to Morocco causing the cancellation of flights for over 3,000 Portuguese passengers on Oct.31.

“This is a clear breach of the EU Open Skies Agreement in place with Morocco”, said Ryanair in a press release, noting that the company has operated between Portugal and Morocco for over three years and it is “inexplicable why the Ministry of Infrastructure and the civil aviation regulator (ANAC) have not issued standard flight authorizations to allow these flights to operate”.

Ryanair said it has tried to secure these permissions over the past month but bureaucrats from the Ministry of Infrastructure refused to issue the routine permissions, resulting in chaos due to the cancellation of travel plans of over 3,000 Portuguese passengers.

The airline company voiced regrets over the disruption of 16 flights which were due to depart from Lisbon to Agadir, Fez and Marrakech. The passengers affected were offered alternative travel arrangements or refunds.

Portugal’s civil aviation authority said the flights permit requests were filed on October 22, “out of deadlines”, despite repeated calls since September for the airline to follow the Law and the regulations.