Ryanair has appointed the former secretary general of the Department of Transport, Julie O’Neill, to the board of Ryanair Holdings.

Shares on the Irish market rebounded somewhat yesterday after a few lacklustre days in line with many European bourses in the run up to the crucial ECB meeting today.

Ryanair Holdings has lost a court challenge that may have forced Alitalia’s owners to repay a €300m loan from the Italian government.

RYANAIR Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest discount airline, may return €500 million to shareholders in fiscal 2013, depending on the airline’s profitability and aircraft orders, chief financial officer Howard Miller said at a press briefing.

THE threat of industrial action by pilots is to blame for a 1.7% fall in passengers at Aer Lingus last month to 925,000, according to the airline.

Kildare: Sports Direct International have appointed Charlie McCreevy, a former European Union commissioner and Minister for Finance, as a non-executive director.

THE ISEQ index yesterday dropped back 20.44 points to 2,795.04 after Monday’s strong gains. European markets were nervous as investors worried over the strength of the economic recovery ahead of key German data.

IRISH budget airline Ryanair carried 5.84 million passengers last month — 13% more than a year earlier.

The ISEQ index finished down 78.09 points at 2,335.79 as investors chose to take profits as European and world markets remained nervous after US retail sales in March fell more than 1% below the level predicted by the market.

Aer Lingus chiefs tonight rejected Ryanair’s ambitious plan to takeover the Irish flag-carrier.

SHARES on the Irish market wavered in and out of positive territory throughout trading yesterday.

RYANAIR is on course to secure a significant court victory in Germany over rival Lufthansa.

SHARES in Ryanair fell as much as 7.5% on market talk of a profit warning after Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, traders and analysts said.

The ISEQ index of Irish shares was down again this morning, falling 52.85 points to 8424.35.

Ryanair Holdings has today announced that it has purchased 4,500,000 of its own ordinary shares of nominal value €0.00635 each.

Ryanair Holdings plc was raised to “add’ from “hold’ by analyst Andrew David Lobbenberg at ABN Amro.

RYANAIR has announced a 10-year engine maintenance contract with General Electric Engine Services while the group announces second quarter results later today.

THE value of the ISEQ index of shares on the Irish Stock Exchange fell by €1.9 billion yesterday as shares in all sectors, bar technology stocks, fell.

No-frills carriers easyJet and Ryanair Holdings both welcomed the UK government's decision to allow a second runway at Stansted.

Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair Holdings has asked to meet UK government Transport Secretary Alistair Darling before the European Commission ruling on whether Ryanair received illegal state subsidies at Charleroi airport in Belgium.

The Dublin ISEQ closed higher after mixed trading this morning, buoyed up by the construction and pharmaceutical sectors.

Ryanair Holdings today reported net profits of €175.5m for the six months ended September 30, 2003, an increase of 16% on the year.

THE ISEQ Index of shares fell back for the fifth day in six yesterday, closing down 49.17 points to 3928.

THE ISEQ closed 94.24 points lower at 3748.66 yesterday. News of a preliminary takeover approach to Abbey National

LOW fares airline Ryanair Holdings yesterday denied its pilots work beyond approved limits on flying hours, as their union said it was concerned safety standards were being compromised.

Investors are being given some respite from the massive falls which have left the FTSE 100 Index at its lowest level for five years.