Ryanair applauds call for competing terminal owners at Dublin
Ryanair welcomed (22-Oct-2010) calls from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) for "the introduction of terminal competition at Dublin Airport", where the two terminals would be sold to different owners, in a move that would mirror the UK ruling that the BAA monopoly of London's airports should be broken up. The LCC called on the Irish Government to follow the recommendation of ESRI and the UK Competition Commission, sell off the two terminals at Dublin Airport to allow competition and break-up the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) "airport monopoly". It also reiterated its calls for the government to request the DAA:
- sell Shannon and Cork airports to the highest bidders;
- sell Terminals 1 and 2 at Dublin Airport to competing operators (leaving the DAA to run only the shared services of runways, ramps and carparks);
- sell all non-core DAA assets, including Dublin Airport City and Aer Rianta International.
Ryanair believes that these sales will enable the government to pay off most, if not all, of the DAA's EUR1.2 billion debt, while allowing two competing terminals at Dublin to rapidly lower access costs and improve passenger services at Dublin Airport, as well as bringing new and vibrant management to Cork and Shannon airports. [more]
Ryanair: "Ireland now has the most expensive airports in Europe and a tourism industry facing two years of record traffic declines. The solution to the dysfunctional monopoly ownership of Ireland's Airports was provided by Seamus Brennan's policy that would have delivered competition to Irish Airports. This policy is now echoed by the ESRI and the Competition Commission in the UK. We must break up the DAA monopoly, and allow competition between airports and between terminals to deliver lower costs and better passenger service, as the DAA monopoly has failed miserably in recent years. It's time that the Irish Government stopped protecting a failed semi-state monopoly like the DAA and allowed competition to succeed where the DAA monopoly and an ineffective quango like the CAR have failed miserably," Stephen McNamara, Spokesperson. Source: Ryanair, 22-Oct-2010.