€29,000 fine for Ryanair over slot breaches
However, there is no system for similar fines in place in the Republic because of the absence of Government legislation, even though Ryanair is one of the biggest slot offenders at Dublin Airport.
The Department of Transport has so far failed to legislate for financial sanctions against airlines, despite calls by the Commission for Aviation Regulation to be given such powers.
Ryanair and another no-frills carrier, EasyJet, have become the first airlines to run foul of a system of sanctions introduced by the British aviation authorities at the start of the year.
The penalties were issued by ACL, the appointed slot co-ordinator for several large airports in Britain and Ireland. The minimum fine for each failure to comply with allocated slots is £1,000 (€1,476).
The fine was imposed on Ryanair for daily breaches of slot allocations between March 25 and April 15. EasyJet was fined the same amount for similar offences.
ACL warned Ryanair it could face larger fines for any repeat offence. An ACL spokesperson said: “Ryanair is aware that further operations at times different from the allocated slots may result in further financial penalties being applied.”
Under British law, Ryanair could have faced a maximum fine of £400,000 (€591,235) for breaches of slot allocations at Stansted. ACL said the low level of sanctions on both airlines was because it is the first time such financial sanctions have been imposed.
Data provided by ACL shows Ryanair is also one of the biggest offenders at Dublin Airport for not adhering to designated slots.
It is understood it is the only airline from which ACL has had to withdraw slots at any airport in Britain or Ireland because of the airline’s repeated and intentional misuse of slots at peak periods. An ACL spokesperson said it took the action because it had exhausted all other options. However, Ryanair rescheduled its services to conform with its allocated slots when threatened with the move.
The Commission for Airline Regulation re-assigned Dublin Airport as a “slot co-ordinated airport” earlier this year in order to avert the threat of major congestion and flight delays during the summer. The move is strongly opposed by Ryanair which began a legal challenge to the decision in the High Court last month.
Almost half of more than 2,000 schedule adjustments in the current season were related to Ryanair flights.
However, 98.3% of flight schedules were cleared by the slot co-ordinator at Dublin Airport this summer.
Under EU legislation, airlines which fail to comply with their appointed slots can be liable for large fines.
The CAR has recommended a €5,000 maximum penalty for non-compliance by airlines with allocated slots. However, the Government failed to introduce such legislation.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport was unavailable for comment yesterday.
