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Outrage at Ryanair late flights
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Ryanair sparked anger today after it advertised flights arriving in George Best Belfast City Airport more than two hours after the 9.30pm curfew.
Employment Minister Sir Reg Empey joined residents of east Belfast in blasting the budget airline for apparently ignoring the deadline for flights in and out of the airport by putting up seats for sale on a number of late-night flights.
Ryanair said today it was a clerical error which had been rectified.
The company had been taking bookings yesterday morning for one flight leaving for Glasgow Prestwick at 9.50pm on May 13 next year, while another flight left Prestwick at 11pm on May 15, touching down in Belfast at 11.55.
The airline said the schedule has yet to be agreed and promised the eventual flight time would come within the curfew restrictions agreed between the airport and the Department of the Environment.
By last night, the flight had been removed from the website after the company was contacted by the Belfast Telegraph but another, leaving Belfast for Liverpool at 9.40pm on May 25, was still listed this morning.
It came days after airline boss Michael O’Leary predicted that a runway extension will be in place by mid 2010 at the latest, even though a planning application has yet to be lodged.
Campaigners keen to limit the airport’s expansion said the incident should be a wake-up call for Environment Minister Sammy Wilson, coming as it did within days of his announcement of a new Planning Agreement which will allow passenger numbers to rise by half a million a year.
At the time, the DOE said operating hours would remain limited between 6.30am and 9.30pm and the airport announced the establishment of a system that will penalise late flights, directing the fines into a community fund that will be distributed to projects in east Belfast and North Down.
A spokesman for Ryanair said the airline applies for time slots scheduling thousands of flights across hundreds of routes and the schedule has yet to be agreed.
“This was a clerical error which has been rectified. Ryanair is acutely aware of the strict operating hours which apply to the City Airport. Ryanair has no plans to seek an extension to this curfew and has no intention of flouting the Planning Agreement at Belfast City Airport,” he said.
The spokesman said anyone who has booked one of the late flights advertised on the website will have their flight moved to an earlier time.
East Belfast MLA Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said the Ryanair night flight times were offensive to residents living near the airport’s flightpath.
“If these flights are indeed being offered, this would be a deliberate disregard for those residents who are living nearby and have to put up with the constant noise and traffic of the airport,” he said.
“As I understand it, Ryanair are now taking bookings for May of next year offering passengers the option of flying out to Glasgow at 21.50 and returning into the city at 23.55,” he said.
“When I was made aware of these bookings I wrote to Brian Ambrose at Belfast City Airport to raise my concerns. If they are indeed going to offer these flights it is deplorable and offensive to the residents who live nearby. Residents and passengers need reasssurance from Ryanair as to how they are going to deal with the situation.
“Just this week I was exasperated to hear that the DoE is permitting further expansion at Belfast City Airport — this is all despite a continuous campaign to contain the growth of the airport lasting many years by the local community.”
Campaigners Belfast City AirportWatch said it should be a wake-up call for Sammy Wilson.
“Here we have a major airline posting up flights in its website in clear contravention of the Minister’s new Planning Agreement,” a spokesperson said.
“Already, the curfew is broken, on average, twice a night. The Minister needs to take a much tougher stance towards the airlines which use the City Airport.”
An airport spokesperson said: “Ryanair has confirmed to the airport that this was an administrative error which involved flights advertised for 2009 — this matter has been resolved with immediate effect.”
The DOE said it had sought assurances from the airport after it was alerted to advertising by an airline of scheduled flights outside the operating hours set in the modified Planning Agreement.
“The airport has assured the Planning Service this was a clerical error on the airline's part. The Restrictions and Obligations in the modified Planning Agreement in relation to operating hours remain unchanged,” a spokesman said.
“Should an airline schedule flights outside the operating hours in the modified Planning Agreement, that would be a breach of the modified agreement and appropriate action would be taken.”
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Comments
36 Comments
Geordie - When Shorts tested big noisy planes there were about 2 take-offs a day. It is the frequency of the flights as well as the intensity of the roar that is so galling. The point is Aldergrove is a better location for flights. It doesn't take much longer to get there and is a genuine Intenational Airport. A runway extension at City Airport would be an environmental disaster and would simply move a few low paid jobs from Aldergrove.
Posted by weebarney | 27.10.08, 13:10 GMT
Awe ca'mon James the airport has been there for years, Shorts had it testing big planes, then there was the Shorts 330 propellor planes with noisey engines, Is it just you don't like other people going places. I live beside the main Glasgow to London railway line with trains passing every fifteen minutes and goods trains running all night, All electric railway with big blue flashes as the traind cross the overhead lines and cross over the track points, Do you think if I write to wee Sammy he will come over to Scotland and stop the trains. Get used to it, its progress, The world is a 24/7 world, Do you not want Belfast to keep up, And anyway you can alway's move to Bangor
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 25.10.08, 15:28 GMT
It amazes me that so many posters say that 'sure they'll have got used to the noise'. Come and live in our homes and listen to the roar of these big jets that Ryanair and Bmi brought in to the City Airport when they're taking off over your rooftops. Then tell us that we should just get used to it!
It's not just the noise, it's the sheer ****** size of these things and how low they are that's frightening. No sane planner these days would allow an airport to be built so close to people's homes, and there's reasons for that, like public safety, noise, air pollution etc etc.
Obviously Sammy doesn't live under the flight paths, otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did and betrayed us to the big multinational companies, where money does the talkin', and compassion and respect for the ordinary wee people doesn't count anymore.
Posted by James | 24.10.08, 22:02 GMT
I suppose John you may be right about a direct rail link to Glasgow airport but there is a service to Paisley Gilmore Street and a bus that meets the train and has you outside the terminal building in 5 minutes, That clarified and the fact that there are four operators running busses from Glasgow international, Just £3.20 for an all day ticket any First bus Glasgow & Lanarkshire area, Now thats service So Ca'mon you Belfast people show some enterprise and expand the wee airport. If it was good enough for noisey Vulcan Bombers in the 50s surely a nice modern quiet jet wont hurt your delicate eardrums or do you just like something to get on your high horse over.
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 24.10.08, 16:43 GMT
come on people of the surrounding area of the george best airport it makes sense to lengthen the runway and have flights 24hrs, it really couldnt be that much of a hasstle and think of the extra jobs for the area, you must be all used to it by now and you dont even notice it so stop the whining and give it your support.
i live abroad and extra runway could mean extra flights (competitive) for the likes of me and for you and your holidays so catch yourselves on, it all makes sense.
Posted by david | 24.10.08, 16:20 GMT
Allan, Glasgow airport does not have a direct rail link, think you may be getting confused with prestwick airport.
Posted by John | 24.10.08, 15:38 GMT
Just saw on the news 13:00 24/10 that Ryanairs Mr O'leary has closed his base in Valencia Spain, something to do with Spanish people winging and the local council refusing him permission to advance his operations, Result, 750 workers probibly mostly Spanish, on the Spanish dole from November 4th and inconvienience to 750,000 users of his services a year. So Belfast DON'T mess with the wee man or he could pull the plug on his Belfast operations as well, Give the man as much help as he needs and he will reward Belfast with a regulat cheap gateway to civilisation and beyond. The Spanish can always pick oranges what has Belfast to offer more unemployed
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 24.10.08, 13:43 GMT
Maybe I am just being naive but could it be that the affected residents are worried about the re-sale value of their homes. I personally prefer Aldergrove because of the traffic problems on the Knock dual carriageway. There are alternative road routes to Aldergrove but only one to the City. A direct train link to the airport from Antrim/Belfast/Lisburn and further afield would probably cost the same as the construction costs for a longer runway (and generate income too). While some of Ryanair's operation may be questionable, there is no doubt that the company has revolutionized air travel. Give them a break.
Posted by Fiona Johnston | 24.10.08, 11:11 GMT
GMC, I think you need to live in the "real world" if you think you can reach Aldergrove form Belfast city centre in 20 minutes. With Aldergrove located 15 miles away, you would need to average 60mph to get there in that time. I've never managed it in less than 40 minutes!
By the way you say that Glasgow airport is further away from its city centre - at 8 miles, its actually only half the distance. It also has at least 2 independent bus links and a train link!
Posted by Allan | 24.10.08, 10:17 GMT
Personally, I don't mind if it is the City airport or Aldergrove, but would someone out there please start flying direct from Hannover or Bremen to Belfast and save me the 200 mile round trip from Dublin to Belfast every time I want to conduct my business. Thank you
Posted by John Moore | 24.10.08, 09:33 GMT
Oh Dear Steve you are a pickie lad, Unionists secterian? Never, but Trevor is probably right its the ones from Sydenham who bought their own council house and overnight became home owning toffs with their mortgage that are doing the moaning, Some may think most of them are likely to be Unionist voters as it was thanks to the Unionists and Conservtives who took the stolen council houses from the needy and flogged them to the greedy. Not just in Belfast mind you.
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 24.10.08, 08:34 GMT
Good for Belfast, Stay in the stone age while the rest of the world moves on, There is an ongoing thing in Aberdeenshire, funny enough same sort of inward thinking people as the complainers and moaners from Belfast, Donald Trump wants to open a multi million dollar golf complex, Going to employ hundres in a high unemployment area, Problem is the wee Free Presbyterian church would see it as a mortal sin (Scottish Teleban), Maybe someone would enjoy themselves on a Sunday, or even worse have a wee dram out on the course, then there is the cardigan knitters telling us it will be a total desaster for about a dozen seagulls, But it's the greens with Oh my god! it will spoil an area of natural beauty even though there are massive oil drilling plartforms and wind turbines off shore. But the funny part is if Aberdeenshire council rejects the application again who's gonna accept it YES! Northern Ireland and to hell with the seagulls and nature. Ca'mon Belfast let the man fly his cheap flights
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 24.10.08, 08:03 GMT
People want the work generated at by the City Airport but not the hassle. Easy solution, close it and move all services to Aldergrove.
Posted by Brian | 24.10.08, 02:35 GMT
Trevor, there's no need to sectarianise the discussion. Please keep your bigotry out of this.
Posted by Steve | 23.10.08, 23:04 GMT
Excellent and sensible comment by GMC. Buy that man a pint!
Posted by Donger | 23.10.08, 22:27 GMT
Belfast only accounts for 30% of NI population. If you live in Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, Antrim, Mid Ulster etc Aldergrove is the most convenient airport. Its is also only 15 - 20 minutes from Belfast. What other city has an airport only 20 minutes from the city centre. Glasgow has only one airport and it is further from the city centre than aldergrove is from Belfast. As for the London Airports. These are all more than 1 hour away from central london by public transport. If driving it could be between 1 and 3 hours depending on traffic. This is another example of NI people not living in the "real world". Finish dualing the roads to the North Coast, Derry(Close Derry Airport) and from Templepatrick to aldergrove and open the old railway line that is only 1 mile from the terminal and run trains around the Belfast, Antrim Lisburn loop every half hour with a station at the airport. If this is done we will all live within 45 minutes of a major airport. So simple !
Posted by GMC | 23.10.08, 22:08 GMT
About 15 years ago Munich Airport moved (overnight - these Germans take the biscuit when it comes to large-scale operations) to near Erding, 20 miles N.E. of the city. 30 minutes takes you to the centre of Munich by 2 express train links, leaving every 20 minutes. Taxis and buses run regularly as well. They also have no take-offs afte r10pm and before 6am. Travellers know this and allow for it when travelling to and from Munich. The nearest other major (if it can be called such) airport is in (sorry: outside) Nuremberg, 100 miles away. Nobody complains, they are both well serviced and growing.
I would suggest that with a decent infrastructure Aldergrove would be ideal to serve both Belfast AND the North West. The nearest other major airport would be Dublin-100 miles away.
I would argue that people who want to travel into Belfast prefer to travel to George Best Airport because of the lack of decent transport from Aldergrove into Belfast, and distnce as such isn't the problem
Posted by Attilathehun | 23.10.08, 21:48 GMT
Cor blimey The Unionist population don't want a National Stadium at the Maze because it is too far from Belfast (15 mins), now they do not want more business for the City airport because it is too close to Belfast. They are just natural girners, lighten up for dear sake.
Posted by Trevor | 23.10.08, 19:51 GMT
Northern Ireland has too (two / three at a pinch) many airports... the authorities have to bite the bullet and choose between Aldergrove and George Best in order to maximise the economic potential of an airport.
It would make sense to choose George Best, a location within minutes of the centre of town and where leaders of future employers can experience at ease the recently renovated City of Belfast.
This can only happen with the co-operation of the residents... and so they have to choose between the dearth of jobs available in the Province and their offspring leaving for brighter climates or some noise late at night.
With respect
Charles
Posted by Charles | 23.10.08, 19:09 GMT
Anybody ever used Glasgow airport will know its one of the UK busiest with jets from all over the world from Australia to Canada to Brazil, plus holiday 737s and Jumbos going and comming hourly from USA and if the flight are not comming inbound over Paisley, Clydebank Knightswood and Bearsden the Monster planes are taking off over these very populated areas, Nobody complains, Why, because its progress, All night flying, 24/7 Lots of work for the Airport staff, taxi drivers, bus drivers 24/7 busses to central Glasgow,, 24 hour security employment, Shop staff, cleaners, restuarants etc. Dont be selfish Belfast, live and let live
Posted by Geordie Kirkpatrick | 23.10.08, 18:28 GMT
36 Comments