This article is from page 15 of the 2008-12-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
JUST like he claims for his planes, Michael O’Leary arrived ahead of schedule in Shannon last week.
He revealed his plans for world domination to waiting journalists be- fore taking the podium for the after- dinner speech to the Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce lunch.
“My plan is to merge Ryanair with Aer Lingus to form one Irish cham- pion – a world beater. We would be one of the big four European airlines and we would be one of the few Irish companies that would actually be a leader in its field.”
This being Shannon, the budget airline boss didn’t flinch at promis- ing that if he gets his hands on Aer Lingus, there’s more than a chance that one of the Heathrow slots would elem uc Rel U Noe
After meeting with Minister Demp- sey the previous day, he learned “the Government were unhappy when Aer Lingus switched the slots to Belfast. That’s something that will be ad- dressed in the offer document.”
Wrorsshaateelaveycmme)e mms elomm ole wKOusetclelee of the slots in Belfast he said that the “load factor in Belfast 1s 57 per cent – the Shannon base, when it was open, had a load factor closer to 80 per cent. We still believe that Aer Lingus could do both.”
O’Leary said that Ryanair’s offer document, which will be revealed this week, would contain “compre- hensive commitments on lower fairs, removing fuel surcharges, doubling
the size of Aer Lingus’ shorthaul fleet, creating a thousand new jobs and transforming Aer Lingus from a declining, loss -making concern into a profitable airline that Ireland can be proud of”.
After lunch, he machine-gunned his way through a presentation on why Ryanair should be allowed merge with Aer Lingus, not just convincing Eskimos to buy ice but talking them into buying whole glaciers of it.
He predicted a marginalised future for Aer Lingus on its own, or a buy- out by one of the other big European ZNDUNN Noe
He painted a picture of all the Hea- throw slots being spirited away.
‘Never mind no connectivity in Shannon – the whole bloody country will be without connectivity if that happens.”
And then he was gone, apologising for leaving because “I borrowed a plane and that plane has to be back making money by four o’clock.”
SNe MOR eirocer Nm ciecoem- Mielke) sete iI welcoming the fact that O’Leary, is for the first rime willing to deal with a trade union. He’ll have to if he takes over Aer Lingus, the union pointed out.