5th Mar 2007 16:53
Ryanair Holdings PLC05 March 2007 RYANAIR APPLIES FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW OF REGULATOR'S DECISION ON SLOTS AT DUBLIN AIRPORT Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline, today (Monday, 5th March 2007)confirmed that it had applied to the High Court for a judicial review of theCommission for Aviation Regulation's (CAR's) recent decision to needlesslyimpose full slot coordination at Dublin Airport. This is the second time thatRyanair has been forced to resort to the courts to prevent this Regulator fromlimiting growth and promoting inefficiency at Dublin Airport. By needlesslyimposing coordination at Dublin Airport, the Regulator is allowing the monopolyairport operator to restrict capacity and increase prices. This is exactly whatthis Regulator is supposed to prevent. Last year, Ryanair had a similar decision by the CAR overturned by the HighCourt where the Court found that the CAR had failed to follow the required stepsproscribed by the European Regulation on slot coordination. Dublin Airport is anairport with two runways catering for just 20 million passengers per annum andthere is ample room for growth. By contrast, Gatwick Airport has just one runwayand caters for twice as many passengers - almost 40 million. Commenting today, Ryanair's Head of Regulatory Affairs, Jim Callaghan, said: "This is a further indication that the CAR is not serious about regulating the Dublin Airport monopoly. The fact that Dublin Airport already has two runways and is only handling 20 million passengers per annum whereas Gatwick is handling 40 million on one runway makes this latest decision a complete nonsense. "DAA and its predecessor, Aer Rianta, have been attempting for the past 7 years to get full coordination at Dublin Airport because it restricts capacity so that they can build further gold plated facilities and massively increase prices for consumers. Prices in Dublin Airport are set to double if the DAA is allowed to pursue its €2 billion investment and sadly this ineffective Regulator shows no appetite for regulating this inefficient, high cost monopoly. Airlines are either ignored or forced to resort to legal action. "The mess in Cork airport and the DAA's plans to waste another €750 million white elephant second terminal in Dublin are clear indications that airport regulation has failed in Ireland." Ends. Monday, 5th March 2007 For further information please contact: Peter Sherrard Pauline McAlesterRyanair Murray ConsultantsTel. 353-1-8121228 Tel. 353-1-4980300 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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