Our door is open for talks, Shannon chief tells O’Leary

FOLLOWING Michael O’Leary’s latest broadside at Shannon and its dealings with his airline, a member of the airport authority yesterday invited the Ryanair boss to sit down and talk business.

Mr O’Leary forecast sheep would be grazing on the airport runway over the refusal of the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) and its parent company, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), to do a deal with Ryanair to open up new routes.

Speaking at a tourism briefing at Limerick’s Radisson Hotel, Vincent Cunnane moved to open new dialogue with the swashbuckling airline boss who wants Shannon and Dublin to pay him for delivering increased passenger numbers rather than the other way round.

Mr Cunnane, who is also chief executive of Shannon Development, said: “We believe Ryanair is a big target for us. Let’s talk. The door is always open, Michael.”

On the current stand-off, Mr Cunnane said: “I grew up in Donegal. I never thought I’d live to see the day that McGuinness and Robinson would stand in front of a delegation from the USA in Stormont. I was witness to that. If those two guys can sit down and sort things out, I don’t see why Ryanair and the SAA won’t come up with a very efficient plan for both parties.”

He said dialogue is the way forward. “I don’t think we are that far apart when it comes to the reality. I think Michael is taking advantage of this situation when we are between governments.

“He got a lot of airplay out of this proposal to have the airports pay him money, which I don’t really think, Michael in any way believed it was going to run.

“Let’s get beyond the rhetoric. Let’s sit down. Shannon is a 24/7 airport with a lot of facilities, a lot of car parks and has attractive routes.

“It is under-utilised at the moment and is primed for growth, but we are on a sustainable path. Michael O’Leary and Ryanair are a big target for the Shannon Airport Authority as they are for the DAA. We have had our issues over the past few months with a court case and we have some rhetoric on both sides.

“At the end of the day we have a very good airport. We are making it sustainable. The new motorways will make Shannon a really attractive airport for any short haul airline and we believe Ryanair is a big target for us.”

Fáilte Ireland chief executive Shaun Quinn said the US and European markets for Irish tourism are set to grow and when this happens airlines will open up routes.

“We would expect any to see any demand that is emerging from the market place, you will see airlines stepping in to fill that.”

Mr Quinn said Ryanair are one of the most market-driven airlines in the world.

“If there is any upturn in demand they will be in there. Some of the most market driven businesses in the world are airlines. If they see business emerging in a market place they will service it,” he said.

Mr Quinn said this upturn in tourists numbers would focus Ryanair and other airlines on routes into Ireland.

However, the chairman of the Mid-West Shannon Region of the Irish Hotels Federation, Michael Vaughan, had less kinder words to say about Ryanair.

“Ryanair business by and large in Shannon has been a carousel , where the business comes in for two years based on a very competitive deal and then goes off almost like a prostitute to another airport. That is not sustainable for Shannon and this kind of sham deal is no good for us.”

He said airlines coming into the region, who understand give and take, were needed.