EU Transport Chief accused of conflict of interest

EU Transport Commisioner Antonio Tajanai has been accused of a conflict of interest as a result of spending six hours aboard a Ryanair aircraft in the company of the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary. The whistle stop tour took place last week, routing Dublin - Knock - Kerry - Dublin. At each stop on the trip, O'Leary and Commissioner Tajani held a press conference in support of  a 'Yes' vote in this week's referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. O'Leary was his usual frank self during the trip, at one point mentioning that the Ryanair - Aer Lingus merger was the only airline deal turned down by the Commission on competition grounds in the past thirty years.
Although Ryanair and the EU Commission make strange bedfellows, the Commission were quick to point out that no discussions took place between O'Leary and the Commissioner on their longstanding (hostile) relationship nor was there any lobbying by Ryanair in relation to the Aer Lingus takeover. According to a Commission spokesperson, any mention of Aer Lingus was in front of the press, adding that the Commissioner regularly meets with airline heads. Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels based lobbying watchdog remains unimpressed however saying that the there was considerable conflict of interest for Commissioner Tajani by allowing himself to be hosted by an airline that continues to have disputes with the EU Commission. Pictured above in the copyright picture by Michael Kelly, Ryanair B737 EI-EFP is seen in dublin on Friday last with it's pro Lisbon 'Ryanair says Yes to Europe' billboard titles.

CAR's 2008 annual report

The Commission for Aviation Regulation has published it's report for the year ending December 2008.

In it's report the Commission said that the downturn in the aviation and leisure travel markets saw 5 tour operators go out of business during the second half of 2008. The Commission processed over 2,000 applications for redress arising from these failures and organised 11 special flights to repatriate 1,500 passengers who had been stranded overseas as a result of flight which did not operate to schedule. The Commission notes that in a six month period it had to process more bond related work than in the previous eight years and perhaps more than in the history of bonded travel.

In relation to aircraft operators the Commission is responsible for issuing Air Carrier Operating Licences as opposed to Air Operators Certificate which is issued by the IAA. The ACOL is required by Irish based operators wishing to operate aircraft for the purpose of remuneration or hire. At the end of 2008 there were a total of 18 Irish airlines licensed by the Commission, in a year when two new licences were issued, one was revoked and one went out of business. Three operators were subjected to a one year review of their licence.

In addition to air operators the commission is also responsible for issuing operating licences to ground handling companies at the three state airports of Dublin, Cork and Shannon. At the end of 2008 there were a total of 12 approved self handlers and 41 suppliers of approved ground handling services at the three airports.

On the finance side the commission turned a surplus of €1.3m for the year, up from almost €377,000 the previous year. Wages rose from €1.59m in 2007 to €1.7m in 2008 while pension costs doubled to almost €100k. consultancy costs dropped substantially from €475k in 2007 to €44k in 2008 which will have helped boost the surplus in no small way.

EU Commission publishes airline blacklist

The European Commission today published a report into it's findings in relation to transparency in airline web site pricing. The report, which focuses on items such as hidden pricing, pre ticked boxes and hidden fees lists a blacklist of 8 airlines which it says have refused to comply with new laws on airline web sites. A total of 16 airlines operating within the EU and Norway are in full compliance with the laws. 

Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Aer Arann are mentioned on the 'grey' list of airlines which have given commitments to bring more transparency but have yet to deliver.

According to national broadcaster RTE News, a spokesman for Aer Arann has insisted that the airline is compliance with the EU requirements. Ryanair's Stephen McNarama insisted that Ryanair had been in compliance since April 1 of this year. Aer Lingus said that it had undertaken to take the necessary steps to address the EU commissions concerns.