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Ryanair not interested in buying airport land - O'Leary

Ryanair group CEO Michael O'Leary said today he would like to see RTÉ survive
Ryanair group CEO Michael O'Leary said today he would like to see RTÉ survive

The chief executive of Ryanair has described as "nonsense" planning restrictions that limit the number of night flights that can take place at Dublin Airport.

Michael O'Leary also said he thinks daa should buy the 260 acres of private land between the runways at Dublin Airport which is currently on the market.

But speaking to the press at the company's AGM which took place in Dublin this morning, Michael O'Leary said Ryanair would not be interested in buying the land.

Mr O’Leary said it is "essentially sterile" and added that the more the owners of the land complain about the price that the daa is offering, the more evident it becomes that they only have one buyer.

"I think it's in Ireland's interest that the land is bought by the daa," he told RTÉ News.

"But the daa will use that land for high-priced car parking," he stated.

Mr O'Leary said Ryanair is not in the business of buying land for terminals. "We're plenty busy buying new aircraft and keeping airfares down," he said.

"And we'll let the daa run what I hope will be lower cost car parking and certainly lower cost airports," he added.

Daa is currently seeking an increase in passenger charges at Dublin Airport, arguing they are too low to enable it to offer the level of services that those using the facilities want and to allow it invest in required new infrastructure.

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The Ryanair boss said Dublin Airport is the most expensive on the island and added that while the daa likes to compare itself to Heathrow, that airport is an international hub with a whole range of long-haul services.

"Dublin Airport isn't, it's a peripheral airport on the edge of Europe and it needs to price itself accordingly," he stated.

"I think it's a bit of a joke, you know, Dublin Airport is trying to blow €200m building a tunnel under a taxiway that we don't need," he said.

"It's another in the long line of Dublin airport infrastructure that's badly designed, put in the wrong location and massively overspent," he added.

"I think if Kenny Jacobs cancelled his €200m tunnel, he'd have all the money he needs to recruit more security staff and improve services at Dublin Airport," Mr O'Leary said.

In response daa said last December, the regulator lowered the level of airport charges at Dublin Airport from €8.52 to below €8 for the next four years.

"We want to have fantastic infrastructure so we can meet the needs of up to 40 million passengers, make the terminals better, and continue to improve the standards of service for our passengers," a spokesman said.

"To do all of that, we need to get a modest increase to our ultra-low cost charge to something like €10 or €11, which would mean we would still be infinitely cheaper than any other hub airport our size. "

Regarding the row between Dublin Airport and Fingal County Council over the enforcement of planning rules around night flights at the airport, following the opening of the second runway, Mr O’Leary said the restrictions are nonsense.

"It means that now there's less flights between the hours of 6am and 7am than there was with two runways than there was when there was only one runway," he said.

"It's a nonsense planning condition, it should be amended. If you want to reduce noise at Dublin airport, it should be done by measuring noise, not by restricting the number of flights," he added.

"And that hour between 6am and 7am is critical. That's when most of the transatlantic planes arrive over here. We can't send those transatlantic flights to Manchester or to Glasgow. It's also the hour when all most of our first wave departures leave, so it's critical," he stressed.

Mr O'Leary also added that he has no sympathy for residents living close to Dublin Airport, most of whom he claimed "work for Ryanair".

"They are making a big dog and pony show out of aircraft that are materially quieter than they used to be 20 years ago. I remember when Aer Lingus were landing 747s in and out of Dublin airport the noise was terrible. Now it's materially quieter," he said.

The Ryanair boss said the summer had been very strong for the airline and fares had been too.

"We expect the pricing to be softer in the winter," he said.

"People, families are facing higher mortgage bills, there's consumer price inflation. You know we've had two years of very strong pricing during the summer. And I think if we're going to keep people flying during the winter, we will have to be more aggressive on price," he stated.

He added that he hopes that if fares can be kept down during the winter, they will remain flat next summer.

"But a lot depends on what demand is like across Europe and what fuel prices do," he said.

Ryanair has hedged most of its fuel at $89.00 a barrel, Mr O’Leary said, lower than where jet fuel is currently trading.

At today's AGM, shareholders strongly backed Ryanair’s plan to place an order with Boeing for 300 new aircraft.

"We will take those aircraft over the next decade," he said.

"It should help Ryanair to lower airfares and grow to 300 million passengers a year and it will also significantly lower our fuel consumption and our emissions," he stated.

"So it's environmentally good, it's good for traffic and tourism and hopefully it'll be good for Ryanair shareholders as well," he added.

Asked what he would do to turn RTÉ around, Mr O’Leary said it is not an industry they he knows, but he nevertheless added that it is probably "overstaffed" and "certainly badly run".

"I don't have much truck with public service broadcasting because it allows RTÉ to, I think, waste a lot of money," he said.

"But then you know, I don't personally believe in subsidising Irish speaking radio stations or orchestras that can't sell tickets on their own back, but that is not my decision," he said.

He added that he would like to see RTÉ survive.

Ryanair shares were lower in Dublin trade today.