9 June 2005 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

Ryanair's 19% increase in profits

Ireland's self-proclaimed "low cost" airline, Ryanair, recorded a 19% increase in profits last week for its 20th year in business and chief executive Michael O'Leary was as forthright as usual. But it was another airport and another second runway/terminal issue that has caught much of his attention for now.

Ryanair's annual profits for 2004 rose to €268.9 million and they carried 27.6 million passengers for the year.

The new airport issue for Michael O'Leary is not Dublin's but London's Stansted, through which one quarter of Ryanair's passengers fly.

O'Leary recognises that Stansted needs a second runway but argued: "It's a hugely profitable airport already and it certainly doesn't need subsidies from Gatwick or Heathrow to piss away £4 billion in a field in Essex."

The second runway should cost no more than £400 million, according to O'Leary, who also said he would not be stepping down as chief executive any time soon. He told journalists at the annual profits press conference that, "I'd like to sort out the Stansted mess. I'm not going anywhere until then."

I wonder will Tony Blair have to gear himself for the whole-page ads in the London Times, etc, or will Michael take a more softly softly approach in his new campaign?

Meanwhile, O'Leary in the annual profit statement described Bertie Ahern as "hopelessly out of touch" and said Ryanair have instructed their lawyers to oppose Dublin's second terminal on competition and public procurement grounds. O'Leary said that "as always in Ireland the ordinary passengers suffer while the politicians fudge".

If you want more of the views of O'Leary, check the statements in the investor relations section of the Ryanair.com website. For an alternative view, look at www.ryan-be-fair.org/index.htm, run by the International Transport Workers and European Transport Workers Federation. For the views of some Ryanair customers, you can go to www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm.


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland