Ryanair fights Swedish claim for €1.5m in charges

Ryanair asked the High Court yesterday to dismiss a claim by the Swedish air transport regul-atory agency that the airline owes it more than €1.5m for unpaid security and authority charges.

The carrier, which operates several routes from a number of Swedish airports, argued that the claim should be struck out on grounds including that the Irish court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and that the dispute should be determined by a court in Sweden.

The Swedish Transport Agency (Transporttyrelsen) opposed Ryanair's motion. It said the dispute should be determined by the courts here as Ryanair is based in Ireland.

The agency, which is responsible for running Swedish airports, claimed that it is owed SEK13m (Swedish Krona) or €1.5m for a security charge introduced in Sweden after the 9/11 attacks on the US.

The court heard that Ryanair had paid the charges due in respect of passengers who booked their flights after December 13, 2004, but had refused to pay in respect of passengers who booked their flights prior to that date.

In its defence and counterclaim, Ryanair alleged that the charges -- which, it argued, amount to a form of taxation -- were in breach of Sweden's laws and constitution, as well as the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

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Ryanair Cash Passport

Low-fares airline, Ryanair, today announced that the “Ryanair Cash Passport” is now the exclusive way of travelling and avoiding the €6 administration fee in Ireland.

The “Ryanair Cash Passport” card costs €10 to obtain from www.ryanair.com. Cardholders will receive a €10 flight voucher to redeem against the next flight they purchase on the card.

By holding one of the “Ryanair Cash Passport” cards, customers can benefit from the following ways:

1.Each cardholder will receive a €10 flight voucher.

2.There will be no €6 booking fees on the card.

3.No transaction fees will be levied on the cardholders for any purchases made on the ryanair.com website or any other merchants.

4.The Ryanair Cash Passport card is a convenient and secure way of carrying money, making purchases or using to withdraw cash.

5.Card top-ups can be made at www.cashpassport.com/ryanair.

6.All customer funds loaded on the Ryanair Cash Passport are held in trust and protected.

Just like a regular debit card, the Ryanair Cash Passport can be used to make purchases online or in stores at over 32 million locations worldwide, as well as making cash withdrawals.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: “Ryanair’s new Cash Passport is now up and running and makes other Prepaid products far less attractive as only Ryanair Cash Passport holders will be able to avoid Ryanair’s €6 admin fee from today.

The Ryanair Cash Passport card is available for all Irish passengers directly from Ryanair.com to allow Irish passengers to save even more money every time they fly Ryanair.”

The Ryanair Cash Passport was launched in the UK and Italy in 2011, and launched today in Ireland, March 1 2012. The card will be rolled out to European countries in the coming months.

From; InsideIreland