Ryanair has confirmed it has resigned from the UK Aviation Council.
The budget airline has spoken out against the Council, saying over the last six months it has “become a ‘talking shop’ which delivers no benefits, no reform and no change for UK aviation or UK passengers.”
The UK Aviation Council has members including CEOs from across the aviation space from UK airports, trade bodies, such as the Board of Airline Representatives, and airlines such as easyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
The Council, which was set up in February by the Government as a body to help with the recovery strategy for UK aviation, has held three meetings since it launched. The third meeting was yesterday.
Before the first meeting in February, Ryanair says it called on Baroness Vere, who is co chair of the Council with Stewart Wingate CEO, Gatwick Airport, to implement five practical measures to improve UK aviation.
According to Ryanair it wanted to look at improving NATS staffing to reduce ATC delays, the UK Government to push for effective air space reform in Europe, and to improve Border Control staffing and processing times. It also called for reduced UK visa cost from £3,000 to £1,000 per person; and restore temporary IDs at UK airports to improve S23 staffing for airport, handling and PRM providers.
Ryanair said at the meeting on July 11th, Baroness Vere proposed a working group comprised of the DfT and CAA be set up to promote UK airspace “modernisation”. The working group would not be reporting back until April 2024.
Ryanair argued the Department for Transport had “failed to provide any funding to deliver this reform. Ryanair regrettably concludes that this UK Aviation Council is a useless talking shop, which has failed to deliver any action or practical measures to improve UK aviation.”
Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said: “We joined the UK Aviation Council in February when Transport Minister Mark Harper assured us it would be used as a “delivery body” to improve the resilience of UK aviation. Sadly, this has proved to be an empty promise. There has been no action, no delivery, and no improvement in UK aviation, and the Council has become a talking shop for Baroness Vere, Govt bureaucrats and the CAA to waffle on about reform while delivering none."
Ryanair said it was investing heavily in new bases (Belfast) and new routes to and from the UK and expected to grow its traffic in the UK in 2023 by 13 per cent to 56m passengers.
O’Leary added: “… all of this growth is being delivered without any support or initiative from the UK Government or its useless Aviation Council... If Baroness Vere wants to deliver change or improve UK aviation, then she should disband this useless Council and work instead with the UK’s major airlines to deliver real and effective change, which will enable us to improve capacity and lower air fares for UK citizens and visitors.”
Dale Keller chief executive of Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BARUK) and member of the UK Aviation Council said he understood the frustration but that patience was needed to implement change: “We recognise it is frustrating but it’s important as a trade body for us to stay at the table. It’s a long term strategic group and it does take time…”
Keller acknowledged there is a process to go through. Any proposed changes to the structure of airspace must follow the Civil Aviation Authority's airspace change guidance (CAP1616).
BTN Europe also approached the CAA for comment.