Gatwick Flybe slots not for FR

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ryanairs-gatwick-plans-grounded-by-rival-easyjet-29292414.html

Extracts :

Ryanair has lost out to rival Easyjet in a bid to buy take-off and landing slots at Gatwick Airport.
Easyjet confirmed it has agreed to buy 25 slot pairs from Flybe for £20m (€23.3m), with the transaction subject to approval from Flybe shareholders.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary confirmed this week that the airline had submitted a bid to buy the Flybe slots at Gatwick, which is Easyjet's biggest base. Ryanair is about the fourth biggest operator at Gatwick.
"It's relatively small in our overall universe, but we could connect Gatwick to a number of our European airports if our offer is successful. But we're not going to pay through the roof for them either.
"We don't have to own slots at Gatwick. If we get them at the price we've offered, we'd be very happy to take them. I think we'd make very profitable use of them," he added.
He insisted Ryanair would have been able to offer "real competition" to IAG-owned British Airways and Easyjet at Gatwick.

"The primary focus for our growth in London for the next few years will be Stansted," added Mr O'Leary. He said the new Stansted owner – Manchester Airports Group – had been a "breath of fresh air".

Flybe is selling the Gatwick slots after the introduction of what it called a "discriminatory pricing regime" at the airport that penalises the operators of smaller aircraft. It said the charges levied on it by Gatwick had jumped 102pc in the last five years.