Ryanair to seek shareholder approval for bumper bonus scheme

Ryanair is to seek shareholder approval for a new share option scheme at its AGM in Dublin this Friday.

The airline will bring proposals for a stock option bonus scheme, capped at 5 per cent of the carrier’s existing shares. It will be the first time in five years that senior employees and directors at Ryanair have been offered options.

The new bonus scheme, which the board says is aimed at rewarding, retaining and incentivising selected senior employees and directors at the airline, will tie Ryanair staff to the company for five years, as the shares will not vest if they leave the airline before that time.

Busy time
It has been a busy few weeks for the airline, which last week settled a libel action with publishers of the Daily Mail and Irish Daily Mail newspapers. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the settlement vindicates the airline's standing as one of the safest in Europe.

The airline has also begun pursing people who question its attitude towards safety in internet postings.

Meanwhile, Ryanair has until this week to appeal a Norwegian court decision that Italian air hostess Alessandra Cocca should be eligible to sue Ryanair for unfair dismissal in Norway, rather than in Ireland, where Ryanair claims she was employed. The former flight attendant was stationed at Rygge Airport in Norway.