*snigger*
MOL has written to the Govt to request that AL keeps the Shannon slots to LHR!
Last Updated: 07/08/2007 18:35
Ryanair writes to Ahern over Shannon
Ryanair said today it has written to the Taoiseach offering to work with the Government to request Aer Lingus to maintain its Shannon-Heathrow services.
Aer Lingus today confirmed it is to drop its Shannon-Heathrow routes. It will now serve Heathrow from Belfast, which was unveiled as the airline's first hub outside the Republic today.
Ryanair claimed the Government had "lied" in public statements during its takeover bid for rival airline Aer Lingus last October.
Ryanair quoted then Minister for Transport Martin Cullen on October 2 nd 2006 saying Heathrow served a "unique role in ensuring connectivity to/from Ireland" and that this connectivity is "fundamental both to provide connections to/from Dublin, as well as to/from the regions".
The airline said the Minister had then said he considered that four London-Heathrow slot pairs for services to and from Shannon would be "critical to ensuring connectivity to these airports, because this is the minimum necessary to ensure a spread of flights throughout the day".
The Government owns 25.3 per cent of Aer Lingus and Ryanair owns 25 per cent.
Ryanair said it believed that, on this basis, the board of Aer Lingus would find it difficult to refuse a joint request from Ryanair and the Irish Government to maintain the "critical" connectivity between Shannon and Heathrow.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the then Minister for Transport "assured the Irish people that the Government would not allow a privatised Aer Lingus to reduce its current operations between Shannon and Heathrow".
"As usual this Government's promises are worthless. I believe this Government also lied to the European Commission when - in opposing Ryanair's offer for Aer Lingus - it claimed that the preservation of services from Shannon to Heathrow by Aer Lingus was vital for Irish consumers," he said.
"Today's sacrifice of Shannon in favour of Belfast reduces that competition and proves that both Aer Lingus and the Irish Government lied to the European Commission. Had Ryanair's offer for Aer Lingus been successful, Shannon today would continue to enjoy four daily flights to Heathrow, as Ryanair's offer committed it to maintaining Aer Lingus's Heathrow slots."
Mr O'Leary said Ryanair looked forward to "an early and positive reply" from the Taoiseach, who could save the Shannon services by taking up his airline's offer.
"Sadly on its own Ryanair cannot prevent this closure at Shannon because with just 25 per cent ownership, we do not have any power or influence over Aer Lingus," he said.