The low fares airline Ryanair announced the closure of its only French base in Marseille from January 2011. As a consequence, 13 Marseille routes will be closed, cutting the city from important flows of tourists. The closure is following the commencement of legal proceedings against Ryanair’s Marseille base, where all of its 200 pilots and cabin crew work on Irish aircraft (i.e. Irish territory) and pay their taxes and social insurance contributions in Ireland where they receive their Irish pay.