Ryanair cuts flights as airport debt row escalates
Europe’s biggest airline said it plans to switch the flights to Kerry Airport where costs are lower.
It blamed the Government for putting Cork Airport management in a situation where they had no option but to raise charges.
The decision, resulting in the loss of up to 20,000 tourists, could cost the Cork economy up to €13 million.
“The increases, which are a direct result of the debt which Cork airport has inherited as a result of its new Taj Mahal-like terminal, now makes the airport massively uncompetitive against its peer airports throughout Europe and has made other destinations for Ryanair much more attractive,” the airline’s deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said.
The Cork Airport Authority (CAA) proposed the price hikes because it may have to bear half the cost of the new €160m terminal.
The cost threat arises despite a 2003 pledge by former Transport Minister Seamus Brennan that both Cork and Shannon airports would start independent operations debt-free after the break-up of Aer Rianta.
A total of 38 recent price increases at Cork Airport, including a 300% increase in the rental charge for check-in desks, would cost Ryanair an extra €30,000 annually on its price-sensitive Cork to Liverpool route, Mr Cawley said.
The airline plans to switch three of its seven weekly flights from Cork to Liverpool - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays - to Kerry International Airport from June 6.
Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said while he regretted Ryanair’s decision, he said he felt “other agendas were afoot”.
“The debt issue hasn’t been resolved. The airport has no debt at the moment so it could not have an impact on current operating costs,” he said.
The cost per Ryanair passenger into Cork is €18.39 - €15 of which goes to the CAA. In Ryanair’s Shannon hub, the equivalent cost is €1 per passenger, according to Mr Cawley.
Mr Cawley declined to discuss details of the deal with Kerry Airport but said it was also better than the Shannon deal.
Opposition parties attacked the Government following the announcement and called for immediate action to secure the airport’s and the region’s economic future.
Fine Gael’s Bernard Allen called on Mr Martin and junior ministers Batt O’Keeffe and Michael Ahern to take immediate action to avert disaster.
Cllr Tom Sheahan (FG), chairman of the Cork County Development Board, described Ryanair’s announcement as “devastating” and accused the Government of abandoning Cork Airport.
