Passengers trapped on plane in Ryanair dispute over airport fees

A Ryanair aircraft from Dublin was impounded for over an hour on its arrival at Manchester airport yesterday morning in a dispute over £500,000 in unpaid landing fees.

The standoff between the airline and the airport authority left 126 passengers trapped in the plane for a time, and caused lengthy delays for Dublin-bound passengers waiting for the flight.

The Boeing 737 was released only when Ryanair's bank gave an undertaking that the fees would be paid. The airline blamed its non-payment on a "clerical error".

Flight 552 arrived in Manchester 15 minutes ahead of schedule, at 8.15 a.m. But airport staff refused to let the passengers disembark. Instead, the pilot was ordered to taxi to an area reserved for impounded planes.

Eventually a stairs was provided to let the passengers leave.

The aircraft remained impounded until the issue was resolved. There were further delays in getting a take-off slot from air traffic control and it arrived back in Dublin 90 minutes late.

A Ryanair spokeswoman, Ms Ethel Power, described the airport's action as unwarranted and unjustified. She said all Ryanair's payment obligations to the airport over the past five years had been met. She acknowledged that a payment made two weeks ago was incorrect, but said this was immediately corrected early yesterday.

According to industry sources, the airport had been due fees of £300,000 since April, and almost as much again for the preceding three-month period.

Mr Jim Stockton, general manager, financial management at Manchester Airport, said the aircraft was impounded "as a last resort". He added, "I agree the powers we exercised were severe but they were justified in the circumstances."

There was better news for Ryanair from the Paris air show, where it was this week presented with the "Best-Managed National Airline" award for 1999.