Ryanair may switch more routes

RYANAIR may switch its Paris and Brussels routes from Shannon to Kerry Airport if the low-cost carrier fails to force a better deal out of Aer Rianta, NCB Stockbrokers said yesterday.

Ryanair rocked Aer Rianta when the low-fares company decided to change the vast majority of its Frankfurt Hahn flights from Shannon to Kerry with effect from April 1 next. This will result in an extra 100,000 passengers joining the 170,000 passengers who already use Kerry International Airport for services to London and Dublin.

NCB’s aviation analyst Shane Matthews has suggested an extra 250,000 Ryanair air passengers using Ryanair’s Shannon to Paris and Brussels routes could be switched to Kerry.

Ryanair has shifted the majority of its service between Shannon and Hahn in Germany to Kerry Airport from April. The move follows a row between Ryanair and Aer Rianta over landing fees at Shannon. The company will now only fly one weekly flight to Hahn from Shannon, down from seven at present.

“The service between the privately-owned Kerry Airport and Hahn will operate everyday under a 10-year agreement on fees,” Mr Matthews said.

“We do not expect this to have any material impact on passenger numbers or revenues. We expect the company will also consider moving its Paris and Brussels services from Shannon Airport to Kerry if it is not possible to reach a suitable agreement with Aer Rianta on these routes when the contract on existing fees expires,” he added.

Ryanair’s chief operating officer and deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said if Aer Rianta fail to see sense they will move.

Kerry Airport marketing manager Peter Bellew said he was not aware of any immediate plans to transfer further flights from Shannon to Kerry.

“If they came we would be able to cope with the numbers no problem. We have just installed state-of-the-art baggage security and handling equipment and we are ready for a lot of extra passengers,” he said.

Mr Bellew said the ethos of Kerry Airport is to bring as many visitors into Kerry as possible while investing profits back into the airport.

“We have a different outlook to Aer Rianta and this new deal means that 180 German tourists will arrived into Kerry every day of the year for the next 10 years. It’s great news for Kerry tourism,” he said.