Ryanair to cut 24 flights in fees protest

RYANAIR has announced it is cutting back on flights out of Dublin Airport, including a 50% reduction in its daily services to Cork from next year.

The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, confirmed yesterday Ryanair will axe 24 return flights out of Dublin each week from next January in protest at increased fees charged by the Dublin Airport Authority, as well as the Government’s €10 tourist tax.

Mr O’Leary said the reduction in flights would see passenger numbers at Dublin Airport fall by 380,000 per annum and would result in the transfer of some 400 Ryanair personnel to other bases in Europe.

As part of the cutbacks the, Dublin-Cork service will be cut from two daily return flights to one from the start of 2011, while there will also be cutbacks in the number of flights from Dublin to Edinburgh, East Midlands, Prestwick, Leeds/Bradford and Manchester.

While Mr O’Leary primarily blamed the decision to scale back services out of Dublin on DAA charges, he acknowledged that the full opening of the Dublin-Cork motorway as well as cheaper fares from Iarnród Éireann had also impacted on the numbers flying between the two cities.

He made no reference to the fact that his airline’s add-on charges have also increased dramatically in recent years.

The colourful airline boss also lashed out over Dublin Airport’s new terminal, T2, which will be formally opened by Taoiseach Brian Cowen tomorrow.

Mr O’Leary said the building should be mothballed due to falling passenger numbers.

Mr O’Leary described T2 as a major white elephant akin to the Taj Mahal which will cost €1.2 billion – a figure disputed by the DAA.

The Dublin Airport Authority claims the total cost of the new terminal is €609m.

“At a time when Terminal 1 has capacity for 30 million passengers and Dublin Airport’s traffic has declined for a second year to less than 18 million passengers, it is clear that the DAA’s €1.2bn T2 is a turkey which Irish tourism doesn’t need this Christmas,” said Mr O’Leary.

On the economy, the outspoken businessman said it was clear that the country was bankrupt and that he would welcome a bailout by the International Monetary Fund.

“The Government and the civil service are incapable of managing the economy,” the Ryanair boss remarked.

Mr O’Leary said that the arrival of the IMF would be a positive development as it would demand “reform, competition and privatisation”.

O’Leary: Ad was tasteful

ON recent criticism over a controversial newspaper ad for Ryanair which referred to a recent incident involving Cork DJ Neil Prendeville, Mr O’Leary was unapologetic.

“We ran an ad slagging off Aer Lingus. I thought it was not alone tasteful but topical, humorous and witty,” said the airline boss.

Mr O’Leary said the only subject he wouldn’t satirise to promote his airline was safety.