Ryanair to sue UK Government for £3m

Ryanair said today it is to sue the UK Government for £3m sterling compensation following delays and cancellations resulting from increased airport security at UK airports. It said it would give the money to charity.

The airline said in a statement it had lodged the claim with the UK Department of Transport and said it reflected losses from cancellations and lost bookings over the week of August 10 to 16.

Hand luggage restrictions and heightened security screening were introduced at airports by the UK government this month following what it said was a bomb plot, forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

However, the Department of Transport in London said today that it does not believe Ryanair has any legal grounds for its case.

A spokesman said that Britain continues to face a serious security threat and that airport security will not be compromised.

Ryanair today repeated its call on the UK Government to adopt the same response it took after the London Underground attacks, by not giving into terrorism, and restore UK airport security to the same IATA norms that are followed at every other European international airport, and on every inbound flight to the UK.

Ryanair said the additional security measures introduced by the Department of Transport are ineffective and unsustainable.

'These measures achieve nothing other than give rise to large queues, frequent delays and will result in further flight cancellations over the coming August Bank Holiday weekend,' the airline said.

Ryanair had approached British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and other airlines last week urging them to sue the government for compensation. A BA spokeswoman said today that the airline did not plan to sue the UK government.
 
BAA, the owner of London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, said it did not expect heightened security to force flight cancellations over the busy bank holiday weekend.

BA, which expects to fly about 500,000 passengers over the coming weekend, said today that it was not expecting any flight cancellations.

Ryanair shares were up three cent to €7.15 in Dublin this afternoon.