RYANAIR IS to take a High Court appeal against the aviation regulator's decision to allow the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to increase check-in desk charges by 56 per cent and introduce a fee for the use of kiosks.
Ryanair said the regulator, Cathal Guiomard, was in breach of his statutory duties to "protect the reasonable interests" of Dublin airport users.
Ryanair said Mr Guiomard had "conspired" with the DAA to "rubber-stamp further unjustified price increases".
Jim Callaghan, Ryanair's head of regulatory affairs, criticised the above-inflation price increase. "If you look at his [Mr Guiomard's] track record, costs are going up all over the shop," he said.
Mr Callaghan questioned the manner in which the price rise was granted, arguing that neither the DAA nor the regulator would give it sight of the airport manager's reasons for seeking an increase in the charge for check-in desks on the grounds that it was commercially sensitive.
Mr Guiomard declined to comment. In a statement, the DAA said: "The DAA sometimes requests to the regulator that information that is commercially sensitive is not published in the public domain. The DAA will not be told by Ryanair what is commercial sensitive and what is not."
The cost of check-in desks is set to increase from €16,000 a year to €25,000. The DAA is also planning to introduce a charge for touch-screen kiosks that allow passengers to check in themselves.
Meanwhile, at a briefing in Dublin, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said his departure date as chief executive was "a moveable feast". "I've always said I'll leave within two or three years. Eventually I'll be right."
Mr O'Leary said there were two things he would like to address before stepping down. "One, I'd like to sort out the Dublin airport monopoly, and two, the regulatory environment at Stansted airport [Ryanair's main London base]," he said.
- (Additional reporting, Bloomberg)
