Ryanair announces new seasonal French-UK route
The airline is now responsible for half of all routes out of Clermont-Ferrand airport central France
Two flights per week will run between London and Clermont-Ferrand in the Puy-de-Dôme
Ivo Antonie de Rooij / Shutterstock
Low-cost carrier Ryanair is to add a new French-UK route to its roster this March, with a flight between Clermont-Ferrand and London Gatwick airports.
The route will be seasonal – running from the end of March to October – with two flights per week (on Wednesdays and Sundays). The journey is scheduled to take around 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Ticket prices fluctuate, but generally begin from €57.99 one-way on the Ryanair website (the single flight scheduled in March currently has tickets available for €25.99).
It will be the first UK flight served by the airport, however Ryanair currently offers flights to Morocco and Portugal from Clermont-Ferrand.
In addition, a new route to Algeria launching in summer will bring the number of destinations served by the airport to six (three of these from Ryanair).
Read more: Dozens of new flight and ferry routes for France in 2025
Will Ryanair pull out of French airports?
The move may be a sign that the airline will not go through with its threat to pull out of regional airports in the country, although this will ultimately depend on whether airline taxes are hiked by the new French government.
Ryanair responded to a planned tax increase on airline ticket sales by former prime minister Michel Barnier by announcing that it would pull out of ten regional airports in France.
It did not name the airports it would withdraw from, but cited the tax increase as the principal reason for the move, saying it would instead focus attention to countries that did not have such taxes in place.
The Senate later voted to water down the proposed tax increase as well as include exemptions for certain struggling routes and airports, before the entire budget was thrown out when Michel Barnier was ousted in December.
New prime minister François Bayrou is yet to propose a 2025 budget, and it is not known if he will reintroduce the airline taxes in any form.
However, a minister in Mr Bayrou’s new cabinet announced this week she was personally in favour of reintroducing them.
Amélie de Montchalin, the minister for public accounts, believes the taxes are a matter of “fiscal and ecological justice.”
Read more: Flight taxes: French minister in favour of raising controversial fees
If they are brought back, Ryanair may go ahead with its prior threat and pull out of smaller regional airports, many of which are similar to Clermont-Ferrand and only serve a handful of destinations.
Ryanair recently announced it would pull out of plans to begin services to and from Paris Orly airport. Flights to Italy and Slovakia from the city’s second airport were scheduled to begin in 2025.
Read more: Ryanair does U-turn on starting flights to and from major Paris airport
