 |
|
Ryanair Threatens to Sue British Government After Mid-Air Terror Scare
LONDON — Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC threatened to take legal action against the British government unless it meets three demands for relaxing airport security and improving staffing at overstretched airports within the next seven days.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the carrier has sent a letter to Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander informing him of its demands.
The airline, which canceled scores of flights and suffered a 10 percent drop in weekly bookings because of the terror alert that raised security levels on Aug. 10, wants the government to return passenger search requirements to pre-alert levels.
It also wants the government to restore the hand luggage allowance for passengers leaving British airports and an assurance that military and police personnel would be released to help with airport security checks next time there is a major security alert.
O'Leary declined to say how much compensation the airline would seek from the government, but said the alert had so far cost the carrier "a couple of million" euros in canceled flights and lost bookings.
He rejected analyst forecasts that Ryanair faced a 10 million euro hit, saying the short-term cost was likely to be "a couple of million euros" and the long-term impact would be immaterial.
CLICK ON THE BANNER TO BUY TERRORSTORM IN HARD COPY
