Don’t blame Ryanair for Shannon woes

SHANNON Airport executive Declan Power continues to scapegoat Ryanair for the passenger collapse experienced by the DAA monopoly run Shannon Airport.

However, while Mr Power and his DAA friends have been running Shannon, its traffic has collapsed by over 55% from 3.6 million in 2007, to 1.6 million in 2011.

The reason for this collapse was the DAA’s refusal to extend Ryanair’s low cost base at Shannon (under which Ryanair paid Shannon, despite his suggestion to the contrary), the Government travel tax and a 33% increase in passenger fees at Shannon last November, even as the DAA’s traffic was collapsing.