Ryanair hopeful of positive appeal result

RYANAIR will restart low fare flights between Strasbourg and London if the Court of Appeal in Nancy decides in the company’s favour before the end of December.

The company are hopeful of a positive outcome after the advice of the Commissaire de Government to reject Britair’s case that Ryanair received unfair state aid to fly from the state-owned airport.

Ryanair’s head of regulatory affairs Jim Callaghan said: “We have been heartened by the support for our case from the Commissaire de Government, and also by the hundreds of ordinary consumers who turned out in Nancy last week to support not just Ryanair but the return of low fare air travel to Strasbourg.

“We again renew our promise to our supporters that Ryanair will restore low-fare flights to Strasbourg if this appeal is successful. By committing to a relaunch date of January 29 ... and the relaunch fare of just 9 one way, plus taxes, we are fulfilling the promises we made to all of our customers in Strasbourg.”

However, Ryanair is to cut its Shannon-Stansted flights from four daily to two daily a four-a-day to a two-a-day service after the company said Aer Rianta imposed a 45% increase in charges. Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Paul Fitzsimmons said: “From January 1, Aer Rianta is imposing increases of 45% on passenger service charges, which is directly resulting in Ryanair reducing it’s four times daily service to twice daily.”

Aer Rianta said Ryanair’s decision to announce a cut in its scheduled services from Shannon to Stansted in the New Year is a public relations stunt based principally around the airline’s decision to use larger aircraft on the route.

“Ryanair blamed its decision on an alleged 45% increase in airport charges next year at Shannon. This is false. The average charge per passenger at Shannon is due to rise from approximately 6.50 to 7.50, a 15% increase. This new average charge, which is still less than half that sanctioned by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, represents the first increase in airport charges at Shannon since the late 1980s, and has been introduced reluctantly to cover rising safety, security and operational costs,” Aer Rianta said in a statement.

And Ryanair received a major boost yesterday when BAA Plc’s Stansted airport, its biggest base, was chosen over Heathrow for BAA’s first new London-area runway in half a century.