Ryanair got leave from the High Court yesterday to challenge a new Aer Rianta by-law. The by-law requires a flight with between 51 and 200 passengers to have a minimum of two check-in desks operating for that flight at Dublin Airport, and for those desks to be opened no later than two hours before scheduled departure time.
Ms Justice Carroll was told on behalf of Ryanair that while warning notices had been issued to other passenger flight operators at the airport, the only provider being prosecuted was Ryanair. She gave leave to Ryanair to challenge the new by-law in judicial review proceedings.
Mr Bill Shipsey SC, for Ryanair, said the by-law was adopted last February and notified to Ryanair in March. The stated purpose was to reduce queuing in the departures area of the terminal building.
Ryanair contends that significant congestion in the departure area of the building had been created by Aer Rianta because of its alleged failure to provide sufficient security screening areas and personnel there. No consultation had taken place with the providers of passenger flight services, Ryanair complained.
The company also claims the by-law's effect is to damage Ryanair by undermining its competitiveness in a way no other passenger flight providers would be affected. Ryanair does not use a computerised check-in system in Dublin. Its system is entirely paper based.
Aer Rianta had sought to force Ryanair to use its computerised check-in system, known as CUTE, the private airline complained. In separate proceedings, Ryanair is challenging efforts by Aer Rianta to force it to use the system, as an abuse of its dominant position at Dublin Airport.
The impact of the by-law on Ryanair, it is claimed, arises from the fact that other providers of passenger check-in services use a computerised check-in system and can, therefore, check in multiple flights at each desk at the same time. As a consequence, the by-law need not have an effect on them.
The only way Ryanair could comply with the by-law would be to open a second check-in desk for each flight or to operate the CUTE system. It did so when queues developed and it was necessary to process additional passengers to ensure all passengers were checked in within 30 minutes of departure.
It is claimed Aer Rianta has arbitrarily introduced a two-hour minimum requirement for staffing without considering Ryanair's modus operandi or its customer base. Ryanair operated point-to-point short-haul flights with less than average baggage numbers and provided no seat allocation. Its passengers, typically, arrived 90 minutes prior to departure time.
Its policy was to close flights 30 minutes earlier than its main competitors. Ryanair claims the effect of the by-law is to force it to rent additional check-in desks from Aer Rianta.