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RYANAIR LAUNCHED A blistering attack on daa, accusing them of “incompetence” and having caused Ireland international embarrassment, during the summer.
In correspondence with the aviation regulator, the low-fare airlines said proposed hikes in airport charges were “unjustified” and that they weren’t confident daa could spend any increased budget effectively.
Ryanair also called for the airport authority to be hit with penalties over lengthy queues and said the increased charges they were seeking were “wildly excessive”.
In a letter to the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR), Ryanair said daa were now looking for what in real terms would be a 91% increase in the price cap.
It said: “DAA wants airport users to pay additional sums in airport charges for its own lack of foresight and resource planning.”
Ryanair accused the airport authority of being unprepared for the bounce-back in air travel this summer, which had resulted in chaotic queues.
The letter, which was sent in early July, said:
DAA’s ongoing security queue issues are exclusively down to poor management and must not be conflated with an incorrect perception that the price cap needs to increase in order to solve the security queue issues.
It said DAA’s request for extra money was “alarming and inconsistent” with trying to support recovery after the pandemic.
Ryanair said changing financial information from the airport was “chaotic and unpredictable” for how they communicated with the regulator and passengers.
In another letter in late June, Ryanair hit out at what they said were alarming plans for what they said was an effective 88% rise in passenger charges.
The low-fare airlines said this would harm traffic recovery, result in significant capacity restrictions and lost connectivity at Dublin Airport.
The letter added: “More frankly, following the chaos at Dublin Airport these past weeks which resulted in thousands of passengers missing their flights, as well as the associated reputational damage to brand Ireland, we are not confident in DAA managements’ ability to manage such significant capital expenditure projects efficiently.”
They said the price hike being sought was “without precedent” and that if Dublin Airport did not have such market power within Ireland, it would have led to a “cessation of all operations at the airport by Ryanair”.
The letter said: “Ryanair will be forced to cancel new and low margin routes (especially in the weaker Winter and shoulder periods), instead focusing on proven big city pairings and peak sun and leisure, all of which will lead to an inefficient use of existing infrastructure and staffing.”
Asked about the correspondence, Ryanair said they had nothing further to add while the Commission for Aviation Regulation said they had no comment to make.
A spokesman for daa said: “Ensuring aeronautical charges are set at an appropriate level is key to ensuring that [we] are able to deliver the quality of service that both passengers and airlines expect and deserve at Dublin Airport. Airport charges at Dublin Airport are already ultra-low versus our peer airports.”
While acknowledging the summer had been challenging at Dublin Airport, he said virtually all passengers were getting through security screening in less than thirty minutes by the start of August.
He added: “While any change in aeronautical charges has virtually no discernible impact on the price of an airline ticket, it has a material effect on the standard of service in the short term and the level of capacity that the airport is able to cater for in the medium term.”
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Seems the only people we can trust in this country anymore to hold important jobs are foreigners. We should also hire one for the je HSE top job…..
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: I wouldn’t call it trust, but rather no Irish baggage, political or otherwise.
@Humphrey Harold Haddington: I would say this is more of a smoke screen. Strange there wasn’t one person in this entire country capable of the job. Or do some here think we Irish are just completely dishonest and untrustworthy.?
Joe Schmidt worked out pretty well.
Nothing wrong with another Kiwi running things here!
The only way to restoring trust is to employ an outsider ..perhaps we could get a few TD’S from abroad ALSO
Could we get a couple of hundred to run for Dail Eireann!!
Delighted to see its gone to a foreigner and not one of the lads mates! The fact it went to a Kiki is even better, recently when some bottom feeders went on a crime and anti social behaviour spree over there, the Mayor of Auckland called them The Mayor of described them as “a**holes” and “trash” Imagine what they would be called here, victims, “failed by society” etc, Joe Duffy and Miriam O’Callaghan would be fighting over who could interview them first, so they could regale us tax paying morons, with tales of the the awfully harsh (LOL) worldclass Irish welfare state here. Irish politicians make me sick, nobody responsible for everything, everyone is a victim etc! Pathetic! https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ahole-brit-tourists-kicked-out-13857689
@Shane Murphy: I was going to say I’m surprised that you’re happy it’s going to a foreigner given your right wing views elsewhere but then quickly realised that you’re using this article as an excuse to rant about other stuff that gets underneath your pr1ckly skin.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: That other stuff gets under a lot of people’s skin.
@Leadóg: indeed it does but the lad’s entire focus is irrelevant to the topic. Just that it happened in nz. Lord of the rings was filmed there but I’m not gona go waffling on about it as its irrelevant.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: are you aware of what bertie and co’s mate ,sorry regulator was responsible for during the boom ? New Zealand is far enough away , that even sleveemism probably hadn’t reached there. Hopefully varadkar does us all a favor and takes a long hike and casts himself into the fires of mount doom!
@Shane Murphy: you’re going off on a tangent again but yes, I’m well aware. Patrick Nevin sat on his hole and did sweet fa and then rode off into the sunset while we pay his pension.
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: we agree on this !
@Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: Is there no end to your homophilic bile?
@Josh Hanners: I actually had to go and Google homophilic. Turns out it’s a dated term for homosexual but lost its relevance after the 60s civil rights movements. You stuck in dark ages too buddy?
Sad day when we have to look to foreign countries to find an honest man!
@Josh Hanners: the sad day was years ago when we realized our lot couldn’t organize mass in the Vatican
@Mushy Peas: let alone an economy and state
@Josh Hanners: we need fine, honest, God fearing folk like yourself to run things Josh, mo chara.
Im delighted…
That none of civil service (RWatt etc) and Sharon….as they refused to answer questions posed by our elected officials..
Im not a FG head but well done Paschal.
If he shelves banker pay report ill vote FG
When debt is seen as a commodity then people will rise up but it will take a disaster to make that happen. Those in the financial trade learn nothing about consequences, only about going after short term profits at any cost. That is why crashes will keep on happening as well as how the ECB treats Central banks in Europe because the EURO isn’t their currency but is the ECB’s currency instead, no one has coped onto that yet?
have your say