Ryanair seeks discount to encourage passengers back 

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said airports are definitely coming back. Picture: PA

Talks between Ryanair and Cork Airport to reopen the airline's base for next summer are ongoing. 

The airline announced the closure for its bases in Cork and Shannon for the winter in October as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the travel industry. 

Speaking on Newstalk's  Breakfast Business, Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary said the timeline for reopening the bases depends on government action for international travel. 

The airline boss wants the coronavirus vaccine rolled out quickly next year, as well as some reduction in airport costs to provide customer discounts. 

"They're [airports] definitely going to come back. The real challenge for the Irish government is how fast they are going to come back.

"We are calling for them to roll out the vaccine quickly in the first quarter of next year. 

"We need to see short-term discounts at Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports for the summer of 21 and the winter of 21 so that we can pass on these lower fares and get visitors back into Ireland," said the Ryanair chief. 

Mr O'Leary said the discounts will be passed on to customers in order to attract visitors back to the country, and assist air travel's recovery. 

"The discount doesn't come to us, the discount goes directly on to the customer. You've got to get visitors back into Ireland, you've got to get them into the west of Ireland, into Cork and Shannon.

"The money isn't coming to Ryanair, the money is going to go directly to the business," said Mr O'Leary.

Some 135 people were laid off after the decision to close the bases for the winter. Some Ryanair services are operating at Cork Airport with routes to London-Stansted in the UK and Katowice and Gdansk in Poland but no planes are based there. The regular Aer Lingus service to Heathrow and the KLM service from Amsterdam is still in place.  

Cork Airport head of communications Kevin Cullinane said the talks have been ongoing and that news of a vaccine has buoyed the industry. 

"We are in discussions with Ryanair about next summer and trying to grow and rebuild the route network out of Cork from April next year.

"On the back of the Boeing announcement and the purchase of the new aircraft, they will have 30 additional aircraft in the fleet next year. 

"And obviously the fact now in recent weeks we've had positive news from Pfizer and a swathe of other vaccine manufacturers and that has given the industry a bit of confidence going into the summer," said Mr Cullinane. 

Mr O'Leary's comments follow his airline's decision to purchase 75 Boeing 737 Max planes for €5.8bn having ordered 135 already. 

The 737-Max, which Boeing now calls the Max-8200, was grounded in March of last year after two fatal crashes and was only cleared to fly again last month.