Ryanair believes UK aviation official should resign

Ryanair, Ireland’s low-cost carrier, has called upon Harry Bush, the chief of the CAA, Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority, to resign, for allegedly supporting BAA’s monopoly over airports in London. A statement issued by Ryanair asserted that Bush spent the last decade “protecting” BAA, even though their monopoly led to poorer service for both travellers as well as for airlines. Regulators in the UK only recently decided to recommend that the government break up BAA’s near monopoly when it comes to large international airports in the UK, forcing it to sell Gatwick in London, as well as one of its hubs in Scotland. This would leave BAA with London Heathrow and Stansted in its control, as well as either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

The Irish low cost carrier’s chief executive officer, Michael O’Leary, was as outspoken as ever, when he gave his opinion on Bush’s performance as the CAA’s chief. “Harry Bush and the rest of the failed regulators in the CAA should resign in shame. They have for 20 years allowed the BAA to charge extortionate prices, develop inefficient marble palaces which users don’t want or need, and provide appalling third world services to passengers stuck in their third rate, inefficient terminals, which are designed not to help passengers, but to force them through high priced shops, restaurants and duty-free outlets,” said Ryanair’s CEO.  O’Leary’s criticism is bases on a long standing premise that BAA would have much better served passengers and airlines by spending money on improving airport facilities, rather than concentrating so heavily on increasing the number of over-priced commercial establishments at British airports. O’Leary then went a step further to label CAA as a “failed regulator.”

Thank you to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation for the initial report.

www.ryanair.com