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Mayor of Lisbon wants city to house Ryanair’s new innovation hub
Mayor of Lisbon Carlos Moedas recently revealed that the city wants to house Ryanair’s planned innovation hub. “I will do everything I can to ensure that Ryanair is also established here,” he pledged and added that city authorities will do their best to bring Ryanair to Lisbon.
Speaking at a press conference on 26 October, Moedas pointed out that cities in Europe are competing for the new innovation hub. In September, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary announced that the company wants to open a crew training centre on the Iberian Peninsula. He noted that the company was eyeing Porto among other potential candidates.
Nearly two months later, Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson announced the company would decide on the matter in the next three months, adding that Madrid is interested and has better connections than Porto.
Moedas noted that Ryanair expressed interest to participate in the Unicorn Factory project, “which is my big innovation project,” and stressed that he will be happy to cooperate with the airline. He pointed out that Lisbon will sign agreements with several companies from different sectors of the economy.
Rita Marques, Secretary of State for Tourism, commended Ryanair for its contribution to the revival of tourism after the coronavirus crisis. She pointed out that Portugal is cooperating with dozens of airlines and added that several are “growing at this pace and with this size.”
Ryanair noted that its direct and indirect contributions to the Portuguese economy in the last two decades exceed EUR 2 billion.
(Photo credit: Carlos Moedas / Twitter)
