Ryanair clashes with watchdog over ownership rule changes
A ROW erupted last night between Ryanair and Britain’s aviation watchdog over the regulator’s imposition of rule changes ahead of Brexit.
Ryanair said that a crackdown on ownership rules by the Civil Aviation Authority had forced the “sudden closure” of 12 domestic and international routes. But the watchdog hit back, saying it was “incorrect” to suggest it had changed its policies at short notice.
At the centre of the row is Ryanair’s use of so-called “wet leasing”, where airlines hire aircraft and crew to operate services on their behalf.
Although Ryanair has a UK subsidiary, nearly all of its aircraft are believed to be registered overseas. Ryanair was not responding to requests for further information last night.
The CAA’S Paul Smith said: “It has been our long-standing position that a UK airline with a significant presence in the UK, such as Ryanair UK does, should not rely heavily on using wet-leased, foreign-registered aircraft to undertake their operations.” A spokesman for the airline said “the CAA’S unexpected policy shift late last night” forced it to cancel 12 UK domestic and international routes from London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast and Derry.
Separately, a non-executive board member at easyjet resigned yesterday after shareholder adviser ISS urged investors to oppose her re-election over her role at Wirecard, the collapsed German payments company. Anastassia Lauterbach stepped down with immediate effect and will not seek re-election at the annual meeting tomorrow.