This article is from page 3 of the 2005-09-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
NEW RYANAIR flights, due to launch from Shannon this Autumn have been cleared for lift-off, amid fears that an industrial dispute could ground re eN ee
If a dispute that is currently in progress at Boeing, runs into Novem- ber, it could hamper Ryanair plans to launch new routes, chief executive, Michael O’Leary has warned.
The airline is currently phasing out its fleet of older aircraft and is due to stop using the old fleet and take de- livery of new planes in the next two TpeKeyels ete
But the retirement of three of the old- er planes has already been delayed by
the Boeing action, which has been go- ing on since the start of the month. The last strike at Boeing lasted 69 days.
At the airline’s annual general meet- ing in Dublin, O’Leary said that Rya- nair could stay on schedule for the launch of new routes, if the action continued into October. But he warned that new routes could be in trouble should the dispute drag on.
A spokesman for Shannon Airport said today that the new routes, due to launch in Shannon in October and No- vember, were expected to go ahead.
A new daily flight to Bristol is to Start in October, while two new routes, serving Nantes three times a week and Malaga twice a week, are to com- mence in November.
“The difficulty will be the knock-on effect of delays in getting all the new planes, so the routes which could be affected are those due to launch from January on… As far as the new Shan- non routes are concerned, we expect they will go ahead without any prob- ance
Meanwhile, the Ryanair boss has re- vealed that they are in talks with Shan- non, Kerry, Derry and Knock about the possibility of connecting flight to Dublin. O’Leary said he cannot say for certain when the next domestic route might be opened.
“It will be whenever the airports come up with a competitive package. That could be October or that could be October two years from now.”