Aer Rianta may drop legal action

Aer Rianta has indicated that it might be prepared to drop its legal action against the airport regulator at some stage in the future.

The company's chief executive Mr John Burke will meet the regulator Mr Bill Prasifka in the next few weeks to discuss the issue. Mr Prasifka has indicated that an interim review of charges may take place in late August.

A company spokesman said if Aer Rianta was satisfied with the nature and structure of the interim review process, it might "re-assess its legal options".

However, he stressed that no decision had been made. Aer Rianta is currently involved in a Supreme Court action against Mr Prasifka's office. It strongly disagrees with his original determination on airport charges and also questions whether he has the authority to cap its charges.

Mr Prasifka said he would be happy to talk to Aer Rianta about any possible review of charges, but he could do nothing that would stop him fulfilling his statutory duty to regulate charges.

Meanwhile, Aer Rianta said it wanted to clarify that it did not state on Thursday it was to seek a fivefold increase in its airport charges when Mr Prasifka carries out the interim review of pricing structures.

The maximum average charge per passenger currently allowed by the regulator across Aer Rianta's three airports, Dublin, Shannon and Cork, is just over 5. Aer Rianta considers this insufficient to cater adequately for its growing passenger volumes and to ensure service standards.

However, the company did state on Thursday that under his current pricing determination, the regulator permits Aer Rianta only to invest about €2 per passenger per year on airport infrastructure, whereas the average for equivalent-sized airports throughout Europe, is approximately 10 per passenger per year - five times higher.

Mr Prasifka yesterday said he was unhappy with some of the comments made on Thursday by Aer Rianta's chairman Mr Hanlon. He said comments made at the annual results presentation appeared to suggest that Aer Rianta went to court because there was no way to appeal his determination on airport charges.

He said this was "false" because an appeals panel, chaired by the then senior counsel, Mr Rory Brady, had considered his determination and suggested some adjustments. "Aer Rianta made submissions to this panel and it is just not right to suggest there was no appeals mechanism," he said.

He also said comments made at the presentation that he had not entertained an offer of arbitration from Aer Rianta were also inaccurate. "I know nothing of any offer of arbitration and there is no provision in the legislation governing us for an arbitration process," he said.

An Aer Rianta spokesman said the company accepted that an appeals mechanism existed, but it was not legally binding.