Ryanair boss warns that Aer Lingus is at risk

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Michael O’Leary, the Ryanair chief executive, stressed in recent comments that Aer Lingus is very likely to go out of business by the end of next year if it doesn’t make major improvements in management and significantly cut its costs.

He said: “That airline is going bust, within the next 18 months to two years, if its current rate of mismanagement and the present drain on costs continues.”

O’Leary made his comments in the context of urging the Irish government to do away with its 10 euro travel tax on all flights out of Ireland and also to lower its steep passenger charges at the Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

The no-frills airline executive claimed that Ryanair would be able to increase its passenger numbers at Dublin Airport by two million if the government scrapped the tax, saying that it keeps people from flying into Ireland.

According to O’Leary’s forecast, 3,000 jobs at Dublin Airport are currently at risk due to the decline in passenger numbers that have been the result of the travel tax and consumer charges. For the first quarter of 2009, passenger numbers fell by 11 per cent, year-on-year, at Dublin Airport alone.

He is calling for the tax to be based on the cost of an individual flight, rather than the levy being the same amount for all.

Thanks to www.examiner.ie for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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