Ryanair - Liars Or Incompetents?
31/08/08 22:30 Filed in: General
Nonsense
OK, OK, this will be my last Ryanair post for a
while. Folks might think I’m getting obsessed with
them, but this is just too good to pass up.
Last week, Ryanair announced that they planned to cut two of their seven routes out of Cork airport, claiming that the Airport Authority had unilaterally imposed increased charges on them. All the main talk shows on national radio had this on Wednesday, and a Ryanair spokesman was on hand to peddle the company line - greedy airport authority trying to profiteer, Ryanair valiantly doing their bit to keep fares low, as this is what the public want, etc. etc.
It would appear that the reality is a bit different. Last Friday’s Times had a story on the front page of its business section, which implied that Ryanair not only knew about these charges for almost a year, and had actually signed a contract agreeing to them. Initially, Ryanair’s deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley denied that Ryanair had signed anything of the sort with Cork Airport Authority.
The document seen by The Irish Times , however, clearly states that a sliding scale of supports would apply over the five years under the Cork Airport European Route Support Scheme 2007.
"After the five-year period, all airport charges will be charged at the standard rates applicable at the time of operation, as published by Cork Airport," it adds.
Ryanair's application summarises its plan to operate daily services on both routes with aircraft carrying up to 189 passengers.
When contacted by The Irish Times about the application form, Mr Cawley said: "This is an interesting breach of confidence. I'm not going to indulge in this."
If Cork Airport unilaterally leaked details about a contract between itself and Ryanair, without Ryanair’s prior knowledge or consent, then it might be, as Mr Cawley calls it “an interesting breach of confidence.” However in this case, all the CAA have done is to present their copy of a signed contract between themselves and Ryanair as evidence to prove that that they have not been acting in bad faith, and to correct the misleading picture being painted of them by Ryanair. And anyway, if as My Cawley claims, Ryanair signed no such contract with the CAA, how are they breaching confidence?
This throws up a couple of scenarios. Either (a) Ryanair are trying to throw their weight around and bully the CAA into rolling over on an agreement made between the two parties, or (b) Ryanair’s senior management are unaware of the contracts they have themselves signed.
My guess is (a).
In an interesting side note, Cawley was on The Last Word on Thursday (audio link here, interview starts about four minutes in) trying to justify his company’s position in the matter. He compared Cork Airport to the other regional airports Ryanair fly to around Europe, and suggested that the new terminal building at Cork had cost ten times the market value. Well I suppose, when it’s compared to a strip of tarmac and a shed or a tent, then it might look a bit extravagant, but then Cork is the second most important urban centre in the State and its airport is the gateway to the whole south and south west, the most important tourist destination in Ireland after Dublin.
Last week, Ryanair announced that they planned to cut two of their seven routes out of Cork airport, claiming that the Airport Authority had unilaterally imposed increased charges on them. All the main talk shows on national radio had this on Wednesday, and a Ryanair spokesman was on hand to peddle the company line - greedy airport authority trying to profiteer, Ryanair valiantly doing their bit to keep fares low, as this is what the public want, etc. etc.
It would appear that the reality is a bit different. Last Friday’s Times had a story on the front page of its business section, which implied that Ryanair not only knew about these charges for almost a year, and had actually signed a contract agreeing to them. Initially, Ryanair’s deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley denied that Ryanair had signed anything of the sort with Cork Airport Authority.
The document seen by The Irish Times , however, clearly states that a sliding scale of supports would apply over the five years under the Cork Airport European Route Support Scheme 2007.
"After the five-year period, all airport charges will be charged at the standard rates applicable at the time of operation, as published by Cork Airport," it adds.
Ryanair's application summarises its plan to operate daily services on both routes with aircraft carrying up to 189 passengers.
When contacted by The Irish Times about the application form, Mr Cawley said: "This is an interesting breach of confidence. I'm not going to indulge in this."
If Cork Airport unilaterally leaked details about a contract between itself and Ryanair, without Ryanair’s prior knowledge or consent, then it might be, as Mr Cawley calls it “an interesting breach of confidence.” However in this case, all the CAA have done is to present their copy of a signed contract between themselves and Ryanair as evidence to prove that that they have not been acting in bad faith, and to correct the misleading picture being painted of them by Ryanair. And anyway, if as My Cawley claims, Ryanair signed no such contract with the CAA, how are they breaching confidence?
This throws up a couple of scenarios. Either (a) Ryanair are trying to throw their weight around and bully the CAA into rolling over on an agreement made between the two parties, or (b) Ryanair’s senior management are unaware of the contracts they have themselves signed.
My guess is (a).
In an interesting side note, Cawley was on The Last Word on Thursday (audio link here, interview starts about four minutes in) trying to justify his company’s position in the matter. He compared Cork Airport to the other regional airports Ryanair fly to around Europe, and suggested that the new terminal building at Cork had cost ten times the market value. Well I suppose, when it’s compared to a strip of tarmac and a shed or a tent, then it might look a bit extravagant, but then Cork is the second most important urban centre in the State and its airport is the gateway to the whole south and south west, the most important tourist destination in Ireland after Dublin.