Ryanair is getting itself in a right lather over the new European rules granting airline passengers compensation if flights are delayed or cancelled, or if they are denied boarding due to overbooking by airlines.
Passengers can claim as much as €600 in the event of overbooking and a refund plus free flight for delays of more than five hours.
Both the International Air Transport Association and the Ryanair-driven European Low Fares Airlines Association have appealed the new rules to the European Court of Justice.
Ryanair's deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley, said the legislation was ridiculous - specifically the idea of passengers being entitled to compensation that was a multiple of the original fare.
"Nowhere else in any sphere of commercial endeavour is somebody entitled to more than what they originally paid for," he said.
True, maybe. But then Ryanair knows all about getting more than its due. After all, this is the airline that levies airport charges and government taxes on customers only to pocket the money itself if those passengers subsequently fail to fly.
And that is to say nothing of the millions of allegedly illegal subsidies they have received from some regional airports around Europe which have since become the subject of European Commission investigation.
Will €6m windfall dent Wrixon's zeal for job?
The president of University College Cork (UCC), Mr Gerry Wrixon, demonstrated his commercial acumen this week by pocketing up to €6 million from the sale of Farran Technology.
Mr Wrixon, who founded the company back in 1977 as a spin-off from UCC, is now 64 years old and, for most people, this type of cash injection would be the perfect nest egg for early retirement. But there seems no stopping the controversial UCC head, who is currently seeking an extension to his "presidential contract" with the Government.
The Department of Finance has indicated it is prepared to approve a five-year extension to Mr Wrixon's current work contract. But certain technical difficulties regarding changes to the statutes of UCC and pension entitlements have delayed sign-off.
Such technical hitches will be welcomed by an increasingly vocal "anti-Wrixon" group of UCC academics, who would like to see a new president appointed.
Current Account wonders if Mr Wrixon's new wealth will prompt a change in his appetite for the job at hand?
South Wharf, Dublin Port square up
Something of a phoney war has broken out between South Wharf (the company formally known as Ardagh) and Dublin Port following this week's ruling by the High Court that South Wharf could not change the terms of the lease covering the 25 acres it rents from Dublin Port. South Wharf is huffing about further legal action and hinting that if it can't redevelop the site the way it wants then it will leave the site vacant, undertaking just the minimum amount of activity required to stay within the terms of the lease.
Dublin Port, on the other hand, has said it needs the income from the current arrangement.
It's pretty clear that, once everybody has calmed down, a joint venture is on the cards, particularly given that the Government told the State ports last month that they must utilise surplus assets to fund future growth.
