Low cost airline Ryanair has announced that they will be closing down their base at Faro airport from January 2020, resulting in a loss of 100 jobs.


The president of the National Civil Aviation Staff Union (SNPVAC), Luciana Passo, said a Ryanair human resources director went to Faro to announce the closure.


Flights are to continue from Ryanair out of Faro airport, however it will cease to be a base from the beginning of next year..


The president of the Algarve tourism board, João Fernandes, has assured that the closure of the base will not affect the accessibility of the region as he believes that there will simply be a readjustment in the stops to prevent overnight layovers in Faro in the future.


Luciana Passo said that the decision to close the base was not related to the strike action planned by cabin crew later this month, nor was it connected to new bases opening in other European destinations.


“The decision has been in the pipeline for a long time and it was not due to the strike,” said Luciana Passo.


The trade union representing Ryanair cabin crew based in Portugal has issued a formal warning of a strike planned from 21 to 25 August that it said is to demand that the company comply fully with the country’s employment law.


In a statement, the SNPVAC union said that the strike warning covers all Ryanair flights for which staff are supposed to present themselves for duty between midnight on 20 August and midnight on 25 August – based on local time – and also customer assistance services or any other task on the ground.


The announcement comes on the same day that Ryanair acknowledged that it may have to dismiss as many as 500 pilots and 400 cabin crew due to the impact of the UK’s departure from the European Union, rising fuel prices and the delay in the delivery of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.


The union cited as the reason for the strike Ryanair alleged continued failure to “comply with the rules imposed by Portuguese legislation, in particular with regard to the payment of holiday and Christmas allowances, to the number of days holiday and the taking on as staff of cabin crew hired through the Crewlink and Workforce agencies.”


The latest profits report from Ryanair revealed a 21 percent drop in profits during the first quarter of the year. Michael O’Leary from Ryanair said: “As previously guided, Q1 profits fell 21% to €243m due to lower fares, higher fuel and staff costs”.