British want their Ryanair London-Cognac flight back

The British community in Charente is not happy. As Ryanair has announced last Saturday, flights from London to Angouleme will be stopped this season.

On the other hand, apparently XO Airways will start with its impressive connection plan in March. The webpage of XO Airways claims to have flights to Northern Africa, Barcelona, Russia, London and more… Some people think that this will never happen. Cognac Expert will inform you if there are any news on the further developments.

Here is the open letter of John West:

Dear Sirs

We, the undersigned, would like to bring to your attention the concerns of British Residents in The
Charente to the news that the “low cost” service operating from Angouleme-Cognac Airport may be under
threat of closure because of an extra 170 000 Euros funding being asked by Ryanair.

We are asking all parties involved to look hard at reaching an agreement, which is not just of benefit to
British Nationals but also brings considerable economic benefit to the wider Charente French Community.

The recent population census revealed that migrants of British Origin now make up more than 1 in 100 of
all Charente residents, and number more than 5000 in total. Each of these residents have brought into
the Department considerable amounts of capital and foreign currency and each year they are joined by
tens of thousands of visitors, each spending considerable amounts of money here in the Charente.

We would ask The CCI to consider that the closure of this route will leave the Charente as the only major
department in the South West Region of France without a low-cost carrier. Charente Maritime has La
Rochelle,  The Vienne has Poitiers, The Limousin has Limoges, The Dordogne has Bergerac,  and
Aquitaine has Bordeaux … please do not turn your back on The Charente and its future economic
development, for a short term argument over a cost of far less than the losses incurred by the City in
supporting many unprofitable civic projects each year.

We would also ask Ryanair to consider the important position of Angouleme , as the Geographical Heart
of The British Community in the South West.  As well as the large number of passenger footfalls from the
wider region, Angouleme certainly would be an effective airport as the capital city of the Charente.