This article is from page 4 of the 2007-09-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
RYANAIR has confirmed that it is taking legal advice on what can be done in the face of a second refusal by Aer Lingus to hold and EGM to discuss the withdrawal of the Shan- non/Heathrow flights from next Jan- VEDA
The airline has pledged to increase it routes out of Shannon, based on the strong forward bookings it is experi- encing there.
“Ryanair regrets that Aer Lingus is refusing to allow shareholders
an opportunity to discuss the clo- sure of a profitable route at a time When Aer Lingus’s interim profits have collapsed by 58 per cent to just €6m and its share price has fallen to €2.40, well below Ryanair’s of- fer of €2.80 last year,’ said Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary “Since the directors of Aer Lingus are will- ing to repeatedly breach their statu- tory obligations towards their largest shareholder, there clearly isn’t any influence that Ryanair can bring to bear on this profitable route closure. Accordingly, we’re considering what
legal remedies are available to us.”
Speaking after the company AGM, at which O’Leary pledged to double its traffic and its profits to 84 mil- lion passengers and €900 million by 2012, O’Leary laid out plans to expand the Shannon operation. He said that Ryanair’s services will al- most double on Shannon — London from four to seven flights daily with Services from Shannon to Gatwick, Luton and Stanstead, where Shan- non passengers can connect to more destinations than they presently can from Heathrow.
The airline will double its Shan- non-Paris services to a twice daily flight next summer, and Ryanair is now in negotiations with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to see if a viable cost base can be agreed to allow a low fare Shannon-Amsterdam route to be launched. This winter, Ryanair will operate more than 40 daily flights to and from Shannon, connecting Shan- non to 30 European destinations. If Aer Lingus is determined to abandon Shannon and the west of Ireland then Ryanair will add more flights and more low fares.