Ryanair Not Expanding at DUB, ORK or SNN
From The Irish Times 3/6/09.....
Mr Cawley called on the Government to abolish the recently-introduced €10 air travel tax, describing it as “suicidal” for the Irish tourism industry.
He said the tax and the level of airport charges imposed here meant Ryanair would not be increasing its services out of Dublin or Cork airports.
In relation to Shannon, Mr Cawley said Ryanair’s five-year deal was due to conclude at the end of April 2010. “We are going to try and secure a substantial cost reduction there,” Mr Cawley said of talks on a new deal with the Shannon Airport Authority. “If we don’t, we will have to look at our capacity there.”
Ryanair pays Shannon a charge of about €1 a passenger. When asked what figure Ryanair would like under a new deal, Mr Cawley said: “Free would be a good start. We would have great difficulty accepting anything above free at the moment.”
Mr Cawley said Ryanair handled around 1.2 million passengers at Shannon in the year to the end of April 2009 compared with 1.9 million in the previous period. In recent times, the airline has reduced the number of aircraft at Shannon from six to four.