Ryanair Withdraws Bidding for Stansted Airport Purchase
Ryanair at London Stansted Airport
Ryanair Says Stansted Owner Ferrovial is Refusing to Engage in Sale Process with Irish Carrier
Ryanair, Stansted’s largest airline (with almost 70% of Stansted’s traffic), today (9 Oct) announced that it had withdrawn from the Stansted sale process, having been advised by BAA Stansted’s owner, Ferrovial, that it will exclude Ryanair (and any Ryanair related consortium) from the Stansted sale process.
Since Ryanair does not wish to prejudice other potential investors in Stansted, it has written to all investors/consortia it has held discussions with to advise them that Ryanair will not participate in the sale process or seek a minority stake.
Ryanair will continue to explore the rapid traffic growth opportunities it believes are available at Stansted, if and when the new owner of Stansted reverses the doubling of prices which the BAA/Ferrovial monopoly imposed on Stansted’s airlines and passengers in 2007, which has resulted in a 25% traffic decline at Stansted from 23.8m pax in 2007, to just 18m pax in 2011.
Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:
“We regret Ferrovial’s decision to exclude Ryanair from the Stansted sale process and the failure of the Competition Commission to restrain this anti-competitive and anti-customer behaviour by Ferrovial.
While we fully accept that Ferrovial is entirely free not to sell to Ryanair, we fail to understand how it can comply with competition law if Stansted’s biggest customer, accounting for 70% of the traffic, is excluded from this sale process.
This year’s continuing traffic decline underlines the extraordinary damage done to Stansted airlines and passengers by the Ferrovial/BAA airport monopoly and we look forward to discussing cost reductions and traffic growth with the new owners of Stansted when it is finally sold.
The only way Stansted’s traffic decline can be reversed is if its uncompetitive charges are significantly reduced, initially by reversing the disastrous 100% price increase imposed by the BAA monopoly at Stansted in 2007.”
Ryanair
Category: Airnation
Good God in heaven, Ryanair run an airport? The mind boggles……
Haha Jennifer i was thinking the same thing… A scary thought!
Well now Chris, imagine this scenario.
One enters the Ryanairport ( any location ) road network landside and pay $5 to have the barrier lifted. One enters the drop off/pick up area for another $5 and then you pay the usual car parking rates but at Ryanair special rates that include a CCTV charge, a road surface degradation charge, and a pay machine usage premium if you do not pre -pay for any of the above etc…..not forgetting the card usage fee!!
Once in the terminal building there is a trolley charge similar to that used by some major superstores, the usual and current Ryanair charges that occur during check-in, then there is the currency exchange facility surcharge, the toilet/washroom entrance fee, and it goes on and on until one dares to actually board the aircraft by way of the bus that one has to pay a ticket fee to get to the steps way out on the outer airfield far beyond the airbridges that mainline carriers use. Oh, one thing more if one is waiting during a delayed arrival of your aircraft before boarding, the rental of cups to drink from if offered paid refreshments, and the additional charge for Ryanair having to meet EU aviation laws for providing said refreshments and other comforts and the likely fines incurred for failing to do so.
Heck, I could really paint a 1984 Orwell picture of future airport experiences if the likes of the low cost merchants get their hands on the very facilities that they need in order to operate from. If Mr. o’Leary and his friends want an airport, ask Mr. Boris of London Mayor fame and he may oblige!!
Haha, that’s an interesting (but very likely) scenario Jennifer, and i hope it never happens! I think Ryanair is trying to save money on their airport expenses (which have to be a mere bag of shells compared to fuel expenses). I’m waiting for O’Leary to but an oil refinery! That should be his next move to cut costs.