Ryanair Accuses Portugal of Illegally Blocking Flights to Morocco, Affecting Thousands

The routes connecting Lisbon to Agadir, Fès and Marrakech have been "illegally blocked by the Portuguese Ministry of Infrastructure and by the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC)," says the Irish low-cost airline, which denounces "a flagrant violation of the EU-Morocco Open Skies Agreement in force." Ryanair is already working on refunding the tickets to the passengers concerned.

For its part, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) states that "Ryanair did not make the request in accordance with the law and within the deadlines, by complying with the legal requirements and providing all the necessary documents for the analysis of the request, despite the fact that ANAC has requested them on several occasions [...]. It would be illegal to grant an authorization in violation of the law in force."