Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said today that the airline will continue to invest in routes to and from Dublin with plans to base three additional aircraft here.
This follows the news that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is proposing a reduction in charges from €10.39 per passenger to €8.85 – a 15% reduction.
The IAA said it decided to cut charges because the number of travellers going through the airport is higher than expected. It will be up to airlines whether to pass on the reductions.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Eddie Wilson said that Ryanair will put in extra traffic into Dublin Airport.
“We’re going to have up to three based aircraft, additional based aircraft, and almost an extra two million passengers,” he said.
“You get lower cost, you get lower fares, you get more traffic, you get more connectivity and you get efficient use of resources,” the airline CEO said.
“And this is the first step. But it’s only a draft decision, and if that decision goes ahead by the final decision by year end, we will continue to invest by putting more passengers and more traffic in,” he added.
Mr Wilson said that with the additional capacity, Ryanair will have lower fares to start with on new routes.
Eddie Wilson rejected the suggestion that the reduction in fees would mean investment in essentials such as electricity, water, and IT will all be put at risk.
“Like the IAA have said, the existing infrastructure can take another eight million passengers,” he said.
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In relation to a recent incident on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany where a passenger was injured after being partially sucked out of a window while the plane was in the air, Mr Wilson said there will be a full investigation into the event.
“When you’re flying about 1.2 million flights per year, you rely on having the best – both modern aircraft and the best trained crews,” Mr Wilson said.
“And that’s actually what was demonstrated last Friday in Thessaloniki. It is a serious incident – it’ll be investigated and we will take whatever recommendations come out of that,” he added.
He explained that aircraft are maintained every night.
“There’s a full schedule that’s set down by the regulators and Ryanair adheres to those fully, as do all other airlines,” he said.
“When you’re doing 1.2 million flights per year, things happen from time to time, but people can be assured that we’ve got the best trained crews and that was demonstrated last week,” he stated.