Ryanair passenger figures rise 19% as BAA takes airline to court
The figures were released as the British Airport Authority (BAA), the owner of London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, confirmed it had sued Ryanair over the airline’s plan to withhold part of an increase in landing charges.
Ryanair carried 5.66 million passengers in July compared with 4.76 million a year earlier, although its load factor — the proportion of its seats filled — fell 1% point to 89%.
Globally the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said traffic grew 3.8% in June, the lowest monthly expansion since the 2003 SARS epidemic damped demand for air travel.
“The airline sector is in trouble,” IATA chief executive officer Giovanni Bisignani said. “With consumer and business confidence falling and sky-high oil prices, the situation will get a lot worse.”
Losses at airlines could reach $6.1 billion (about €4bn) this year, said Mr Bisignani, thereby wiping out the $5.6 billion profit the industry made in 2007.
The price of oil has surged 67% in the past 12 months, and reached a record $147.27 a barrel last month.
The IATA also said freight transport fell 0.8% in June, the first contraction since May 2005.
Meanwhile the BAA filed its suit against Ryanair at the High Court in London on July 3 according to records.
Ryanair said in April that it disagreed with a 7% increase in landing charges at Stansted and would withhold the extra fees.
The fees BAA may charge at its three London airports are capped by Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority with input from Britain’s Competition Commission.
BAA, the world’s biggest airport operator, has been criticised by passengers, airlines and politicians for the levels of service it provides and for high charges at Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow.
“For some time, Ryanair has enjoyed substantial discounts in charges for using Stansted Airport,” London-based BAA said.
“This arrangement no longer applies, but our charges remain within the limit we are allowed to charge by our regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority.”
Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara confirmed yesterday that BAA was suing the company for the fees.
Also yesterday Ryanair said Irish price comparison firm, BravoFly stopped using pricing information from its website to advertise discount fares.
BravoFly stopped the practice of so-called screenscraping (using information extracted from another website) after Ryanair won a court case against it, it said.
Ryanair claims screenscrapers often charge extra fees to customers for Ryanair tickets.
Ryanair gained 33 cents, or 15% to €2.58 yesterday, the biggest jump since November 2, 2004, as New York oil futures reached their lowest since May 5.
Ryanair’s shares have fallen 44% this year, cutting its market value to €3.8bn.
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