Ryanair slams 'false information' in Spain

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has accused authorities in Spain of orchestrating a campaign against the carrier over allegations it has compromised on safety.

O’Leary wrote to Spanish minister of public works Ana Pastor this week demanding she “take action against the leaking of false information” about Ryanair.

His letter refers to an article in Spanish national newspaper El Mundo on Monday which alleged Ryanair had been involved in 1,200 security incidents in the past six months. O’Leary said the figure was false.

Pastor warned this week that her government plans sanctions against airlines which fail to meet safety requirements.

The Irish Times reported she also plans to lobby the European Commission for action. Paster did not name Ryanair, but said: “Low cost is fine. What we can’t have is low safety.”

However, she did refer to incidents on July 26 when three Ryanair aircraft sought emergency permission to land at Valencia after being diverted from Madrid because of bad weather.

O’Leary has rejected suggestions the carrier was in breach of any safety regulations, pointing out Ryanair’s pilots had complied with safety procedures by requesting to land when they had 30 minutes of fuel left after each circling Valencia for more than an hour.

However, unions representing pilots in Ireland and Germany have accused Ryanair of “making pilots uncomfortable about taking extra fuel when they need it”, and the Spanish pilots association has demanded an investigation.

Two Ryanair flights in Spain suffered depressurisation problems last week, forcing them to turn back in mid flight.

Also this week, an interim report into an emergency descent by a Ryanair flight between Milan and East Midlands in April suggested the aircraft was not properly maintained.

Thirteen people were injured when the flight descended 21,000 feet in five minutes following a problem with a pressure controller. The aircraft diverted to Frankfurt-Hahn airport, leading German authorities to investigate the incident.

A Ryanair spokesman said: “Ryanair notes the interim report into an aircraft depressurisation in April. The German reports suggest Boeing redesigns a ‘black shipping plug’ to make it more clearly visible for maintenance staff. Ryanair will follow any recommendations made by the final report.”

UK law firm Irwin Mitchell, which is representing some of the passengers aboard the flight, said: “A fault with one pressure controller and a badly designed shipping plug on the other gives rise to serious concerns."

http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2012/09/14/actualidad/1347653069_726124.html

The Minister of Development, Ana Pastor, refused on Monday to pronounce the name of the airline to which her hard messages were directed. She spoke of the largest fines against committing irregularities and ask the European Union more power to control the "foreign airlines strong presence." "It's good to have low prices or low cost", said the minister, "but there can be no low security". Although Pastor was not referring to anyone in particular, no one in the industry doubt that the government was declaring war on Ryanair.

In a telephone conversation with this newspaper, the chairman of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, said that the information published in the press in which it is said that the company has accumulated 1,200 security incidents in the first half of this year is false. He accused the ministry of development of disseminating this information to the press. "We do not know why," says O'Leary. Development sources said this newspaper that this information did not come from the EFSA and that, indeed, the data were not good. This newspaper asked by telephone data incidences of Ryanair and other companies of similar size to compare the number. The answer: "The information is confidential by law and data protection law on aviation security."

"We can have no reproach compared to other companies," O'Leary insists. "We've been flying over 20 years, we have not had a single accident and the number of incidents is not greater than that of other companies. What kind of shop is this that makes a smear campaign against a company that has grown and has given jobs. "

http://www.ryanair.com/ie/news/ryanair-welcomes-statement-from-irish-and-spanish-govts

Ryanair, Spain’s largest airline, welcomed today’s (18 Sept) joint statement from the Irish and Spanish Transport Ministries which affirms that Ryanair’s safety standards are on par with the safest airlines in Europe.

Ryanair had invited the Spanish Ministry to send a team of inspectors to Dublin to correct any (misplaced) concerns about Ryanair’s compliance with Europe’s highest operating and maintenance standards by providing them with unfettered access to Ryanair operating, maintenance and flight training facilities and unlimited access to Ryanair’s safety, flight management, engineering and maintenance personnel.

http://www.iaa.ie/index.jsp?p=93&n=96&a=1214

18 September 2012: A delegation from the Spanish Ministry of Development led by the Secretary General for Transport met representatives of the Irish Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, led by the Secretary General, with the Irish Aviation Authority in Dublin today (Tuesday) to discuss oversight of Ryanair's operation in Spain.

The Irish authorities gave an assurance of the IAA's rigorous oversight of Ryanair's operations and on their satisfaction with Ryanair's safety standards which are on a par with the safest airlines in Europe.

The Irish authorities extended an invitation to the Spanish authorities to send an expert delegation to visit the IAA and to be briefed in detail on the oversight of Ryanair's operations.

I'm sure chocks would have been firmly placed if rules were/are being broken.

If this was Ryanair the media would have a field day- Is Monarch a low cost airline?.. well they lease @ very low cost, the aircraft in question was built in 1988 pax were not told but passengers would pay up to date prices to fly on this .. I bet Monarch did not advise the pax what they are flying on.

Aurela B733 at Birmingham on Sep 21st 2012, runway overrun

Friday, Sep 21st 2012

An Aurela Boeing 737-300 on behalf of Monarch Airlines, registration LY-SKA performing flight ZB-467 from Nice (France) to Birmingham,EN (UK), landed on Birmingham's runway 33 but overran the runway and runway end safety area at about 13:10L (12:10Z) and came to a stop with all gear off paved surface. No injuries are currently being reported.