The European Commission is investigating Ryanair’s use
of an airport in Tampere, Finland. It is believed that the
investigation is under the rules covering aid to regional airports.
Last year, Ryanair was ordered to pay €4m back to the Walloon
government in Belgium after a Commission ruling found Ryanair had
received illegal state aid at Charleroi airport. Ryanair has said that
its arrangements with Tampere are ‘legal, open and pro-competition’ and
will result in 350,000 international passengers at Tampere in the
coming year and will generate 350 jobs in the region.

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 low fares airline
welcomed the recent Holiday Which article, The No- Frills revolution,
which highlights the growth of low fares in Europe pioneered by
Ryanair. Peter Sherrard, Ryanair’s Head of Communications
said: “If ever evidence was needed of consumer support for
low fares airlines it was provided in August when Ryanair carried more
passengers than British Airways’ worldwide traffic for the
first time.

He said: passengers continue to desert high fare rip
off airlines like British Airways in favour of Ryanair because:

1) They want to avoid British Airways’ rip
off fuel surcharges of up to £60 while Ryanair guarantees no
fuel surcharge ever.

2) They prefer Ryanair’s average fare of
£27 compared to British Airways’ average fare of
£181 – over 6 times greater.

3) At Ryanair their
flights are on time while British Airways are frequently delayed.

4)
With Ryanair they will not be stranded at Heathrow without
accommodation or compensation like 100,000 of British
Airways’ customers were in August.

“Millions of passengers compare Ryanair and
British Airways on a daily basis and more passengers chose Ryanair
because of Ryanair’s lower prices, better punctuality, better
passenger service and guarantee of no fuel surcharge ever”.

July last year, a tired Ryanair pilot nose-dived his
Boeing 737 at 6,000ft a minute – twice the recommended speed – after
forgetting to descend from 30,000ft at the right time. The 38-year-old
Australian captain, who had flown from London’s Stansted Airport with
184 passengers aboard, continued to descend rapidly despite repeated
warnings from the first officer. Although he managed to bring the plane
to a halt at Stockholm’s Skavsta Airport, the Swedish air traffic
controllers reported him. This happened on the captain’s last
day before leaving Ryanair. In a statement, he admitted stress and
fatigue had caused him to become “deficient in logical
thought”. Investigators, who described the incident as
“serious”, said: “It was fortuitous the
landing was carried out safely.”