READERS OF the Irish Daily Mailon Tuesday would have been forgiven for doing a double take when they opened page 11 of the newspaper. There, in all its glory, was a full-page advertisement from Ryanair offering 25 per cent off its fares, with a little note tucked away in the left-hand corner stating: "Supported by the Dublin Airport Authority".
Yes, I kid you not. Traditionally, the two are are at each other’s throats, arguing furiously over airport charges and the like, with Michael O’Leary usually less than complimentary about the competence of the DAA’s management team and the running of Dublin airport.
In January, O’Leary announced that Ryanair would be cutting the number of aircraft at its Dublin base from 18 to 15, blaming an increase in airport charges and the Government’s “suicidal” €10 departure tax for the decision.
Has there been a detente between Ryanair and the airport authority?
“Ryanair frequently runs joint advertising projects with our airport partners to promote routes to/from certain airports,” an official at the airline told me.
“Ryanair and the DAA are running a total of 27 adverts in various newspapers between May and June to encourage travel to/from Dublin airport.”
The financial support for the advertisements is said to be “modest”.
In these recessionary times, business is business, it seems.
