Sir, - I refer to your Business Briefing column of June 26th dealing with airport costs at Dublin Airport. Your correspondent asserts that "claims by IATA on behalf of airlines that, in a competitive market, they can ill afford extra costs don't quite make sense as it appears all the airlines using the airport will be equally affected by the changes".
This analysis misses the point completely. Dublin Airport is not involved in internal competition between airlines - that issue has been addressed very comprehensively since Ryanair entered the market in 1985. This competition has given rise to phenomenal growth on all the routes on which the low fares apply. The stage has now been reached, however, where airline travel to and from Dublin is not just about inter-airline competition but rather about how competitive Dublin is with other destinations throughout Europe and how competitive air travel is against other forms of discretionary spending.
In the past 10 years Ryanair has made travel from and, more importantly, to Dublin cheaper than going to your local restaurant for a modest meal and so it (the travel option) has become the preferred alternative. What most people fail to recognise is that a large part of Dublin Airport's business is based on this low-cost, low fare discretionary travel and it is this traffic which is most vulnerable to any increase (however slight) there may be in fares. It is therefore very important for all airlines, not just Ryanair, that the airport charges which underpin the access costs to this country are kept at a low level so as to maintain the phenomenal growth which we have seen in air travel generally. - Yours, etc.,
Michael Cawley Commercial Director &Chief Financial Officer Ryanair, Dublin Airport