Dogfight over Stansted charges

Tuesday, 23 Jul, 2004 0

The travel industry is waiting to see the outcome of the spat between Irish airline Ryanair and BAA over landing fees at Stansted.

BAA has issued a writ against the no-frills carrier for non-payment of £1 million in charges at Stansted – but Ryanair has hit back by launching court proceedings against BAA, claiming it is over-charging on fuel levies.

Ryanair handled 12.5 million passengers at Stansted last year and is continuing to operate from the airport while the legal battle is fought out, the Press Association reports.

The airline recently ran into problems at Charleroi airport in Belgium over the level of subsidies it was receiving there. The European Commission slapped a fine of £2.74 million on the company, but Ryanair is appealing against the decision.

Meanwhile, Ryanair has is adding nine new routes to its network at Luton airport in a direct challenge to easyJet. The routes are to Rome, Venice, Stockholm, Barcelona Girona, Barcelona Reus, Nimes and Dinard in France, Murcia in Spain and Esbjerg in Denmark.

Ryanair already serves Dublin and Milan from Stansted rival Luton and is to base four new Boeing 737-800s at the airport to operate the new routes. Ryanair expects to carry 1.6 million passengers from Luton this year and claims the expansion will “create and sustain” 1,000 jobs.

The Irish airline’s chief executive Michael O’Leary claimed: “Consumers using Luton airport now have a real low fares airline offering fares that are half the price of easyJet, serving 11 destinations throughout Europe.”

Ryanair’s expansion plans at Luton came after bmibaby announced huge expansion at Birmingham airport.

Phil Davies

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