Are Ryanair about to re-enter the Irish Domestic Market?

Speculation is growing over Ryanair about to return to the Irish domestic market after a ten year hiatus.

Yesterday (9th July 2021), Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment & Communications ashared an announcement for the restoration of regional air services between Kerry and Dublin, with the route being operated by Ryanair on a commercial basis, operating twice daily flights from 19 July 2021.

Stobart Air under a Public Service Obligation (PSO) procurement process, previously operated two domestic Irish routes: Donegal-Dublin and Kerry-Dublin until the airline collapsed in June 2021. Donegal-Dublin will remain operated under the PSO criteria and a preferred bidder has been selected with the hope to launch flights from 19 July 2021.

The current procurement process is for a temporary replacement service for 7 months. The Irish Department for Transport will shortly launch a procurement process for a longer contract (up to 4 years) to ensure continuity of service on the Donegal route after this temporary contract ends.

However, as Ryanair has indicated that it will operate on the Kerry route for the next 7 months and beyond, it is not expected that a competition to operate on the Kerry route will be necessary given that Ryanair has indicated that it will operate on the route on a commercial basis without the need for Government funding.

Ryanair previously operated the Kerry-Dublin route until September 2011, but has not operated domestic routes in Ireland since this route cut a decade ago.

Despite the announcment from the Eamon Ryan TD, Ryanair subsequently released a statement, 'While Ryanair has offered to operate a non-subsidized service on the Dublin-Kerry route, no agreement has yet been concluded & so Minister Ryan’s statement of today (which was issued without any consultation with Ryanair) is both premature and inaccurate'.

Ryanair has been evolving its domestic operation across Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite leaving the UK domestic route due to disagreements with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, it has announced the start of Bulgarian and Swedish domestic routes in 2021 to complement its expanded operation in the French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portugese, Romanian and Spanish. The Kerry-Dublin route would therefore allow Ryanair to enter its 10th domestic market.

Additionally, there may be an alternative motive to the route. With COVID-19 restricting international air travel and suppressing demand, operating a twice daily, short sector route would allow the airline to maintain its slots at Dublin and allow for crew training to take place. However, once demand recovers and the demand for more lucrative holiday and business routes rebounds, will Ryanair maintain the route or will the route get cut?

Source:
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/6d2ac-minister-ryan-and-minister-of-state-naughton-announce-restoration-of-vital-air-connectivity-to-the-kerry-and-donegal-regions/

https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/0709/1234127-aviation-pso-transport/