Call for give €3.5m Ryanair settlement to Shannon

SHANNON Airport Authority “should 100% receive” the €3.5 million Ryanair paid to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) for breach of the five-year contract with Shannon Airport on passenger charges.

That’s according to tourism expert Prof Jim Deegan of the University of Limerick’s Department of Economics, who said yesterday the €3.5m should be transferred to Shannon to be used for the promotion of the airport.

Prof Deegan said: “Shannon made the deal with Ryanair and Ryanair coming into Shannon stopped other airlines coming into the airport. Shannon should 100% receive that money.”

Prof Deegan was echoing calls made by Fine Gael TD, Joe Carey, who said that the money should be used exclusively by Shannon.

The out-of-court settlement arose from a legal action taken by the DAA against Ryanair over breaching the contract.

Mr Carey has written to the DAA seeking commitments that the money be devoted exclusively to Shannon.

He said: “I believe such a budget would go a long way towards funding an international marketing and promotions campaign for the year ahead for Shannon Airport.”

Deputy Carey added: “It could also go a long way towards making the Lynx cargo facility a reality, which in essence requires an investment of somewhere between €7-8m.

Ryanair also agreed to pay the airport authority’s legal costs, believed to be several hundred thousand euro.

The court case related to a five-year discount deal on passenger charges between Ryanair and Shannon that was agreed in November 2004. The deal ran from May 2005 until April 2010.

It involved Ryanair being offered a substantial discount on airport charges — it paid between €1 and €2 per person — in return for carrying an agreed number of passengers.

Shannon’s standard charge at the time was €4 per departing passenger.