Michael O’Leary makes bold Ryanair Christmas claim

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said his airline is going ‘to make out like bandits’ this Christmas as the carrier said it will have to charge passengers €1,000 to fly to London.

Speaking before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on Wednesday, Mr O’Leary said Ryanair is going to ‘make a fortune’ over the festive period.

He said this was due to Dublin Airport‘s refusal to grant the airline additional flights due to a passenger cap, which has been set at 32million per year.

He said this was not price-gouging but a direct result of not allowing additional flights during the busy Christmas schedule.

He blamed the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) for not moving on the passenger cap, saying: ‘We’re getting our position out there first. If we aren’t able to add 270,000 additional seats to and from Dublin this year then the flights coming home at Christmas are going to be dramatically higher.

‘We will have all “the airlines are profiteering – the airlines are putting up the fares for Christmas” and I want to say “no, we are not putting up the fares here because it’s Christmas. We’re putting up the fares here because we have an archaic and idiotic passenger cap at Dublin airport, which is preventing us from adding 270,000 extra seats”.’

Mr O’Leary also said Transport Minister Eamon Ryan must do something to lift the cap at the nation’s main airport, even in the short term as the current impasse could take up to four years to solve as it must go through the planning process – something Mr O’Leary said would be riddled with appeals.

He said: ‘What I don’t accept is that the Government can’t do anything about this for the next four years.

‘And when the air fares home at Christmas are €1,000 return, I want to be pointing to the Minister for Transport and saying, “We told you this was what was going to happen” and it could still be avoided if somebody directs the IAA to waive the cap or to allow us to add these extra flights at Christmas.’

The committee also heard about the number of complaints issued against Ryanair regarding aircraft noise. Of the 26,196 noise complaints submitted to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in 2022, more than 23,430 were made by one individual, Mr O’Leary said.

The airline CEO said that while everyone is entitled to submit complaints, he said his company is doing all it can to reduce noise from its fleet.

He said his staff had been sent to areas where many complaints had originated, namely St Margaret’s, in Dublin, and Ashbourne in Meath.

He said the noise from aircraft flying overhead was much lower than you’d get in busy areas such as Dublin’s O’Connell Street.

‘We have gone around, we’ve put up noise-measuring equipment and without any aircraft overhead, the average noise level is 48 at St Margaret’s and 39 in Ashbourne,’ he said. ‘When an aircraft is overhead, St Margaret’s goes from 48 to 53 decibels, and Ashbourne goes from 39 to 48 decibels.

‘If you’re on O’Connell Street Bridge that’s 70 decibels and if you’re in Sydney Parade Avenue, that’s 72 decibels when a Dart is passing by.

‘Nobody would want to belittle [those saying] there is a noise issue at Dublin Airport, but it’s perfectly quiet out there.’

There were some tense moments during the committee hearing, with Fingal-based TD Alan Farrell hitting out at both contributors and committee members on the matter.

He said: ‘The amount of uninformed statements being made here is extraordinary. From members and witnesses in relation to public transport to accessibility in Swords, in relation to the planning application, in relation to the regulatory systems that are being operated.

‘I’m only appointed to this committee a few weeks, but I do find it extraordinary that we’re having this conversation in this context. I’m baffled that we’re here talking about stuff that we’re clearly not informed on and I think it’s the role of the committee and yours, Mr O’Leary, to put facts before this committee… and there’s loads of opinions.’