A COMPANY licensed by the Dublin Airport Authority to sell rail tickets into London from kiosks at Dublin airport has claimed its business there is “close to collapse” due to an orchestrated campaign of harassment, bullying and obstruction of its staff by Ryanair and its agents.
Ticket Generator Ltd (TGL), a UK company, has secured interim injunctions from the High Court restraining the alleged intimidation. The orders were sought by Mel Christle SC for TGL and were made returnable by Mr Justice Frank Clarke to tomorrow.
The company claimed staff at its kiosk near the Ryanair departure gate at Terminal 1 in Dublin airport were constantly harassed and the public address system for Ryanair flights to Stansted was being used every five minutes to advise queuing passengers to buy tickets for the Stansted Express from Ryanair and not from the “DAA”, “Dublin airport” or “the kiosk”.
Fred Gross, a director of TGL, said it operated from the terminals of 15 European airports and he never before heard of such “malicious and vituperative” behaviour in all his experience in the industry. Ryanair’s behaviour was such that staff working at the kiosk had complained of pressure, stress and sleeplessness, he said.
He said persons wearing Ryanair uniforms had sought to divert passengers away from the TGL kiosk by handing out fliers advising purchase of tickets for the Stansted Express from Ryanair rather than TGL. He had also heard Ryanair staff inform people that TGL was a “rip-off” and “fraud”.
Ryanair was also misleading people about the costs of tickets from TGL and its staff were effectively picketing the kiosk, he said.
The court heard TGL began selling tickets at Dublin airport last August, having entered a licence agreement with the DAA. Ten staff were recruited from an agency to work at two kiosks at terminals one and two. TGL sells rail tickets from Stansted airport to Liverpool Street at Terminal 1, from which Ryanair flies to Stansted exclusively, and tickets from Heathrow from its kiosk in Terminal 2.
Within two weeks of starting its operations at Terminal 1, TGL’s staff were continually harassed, obstructed and intimidated by servants or agents of Ryanair in the sale of tickets, Mr Gross said. TGL had moved its kiosk farther away from the Ryanair departure gate in an effort to avoid such harassment but the activity of Ryanair continued resulting in staff at the Terminal 1 kiosk asking not to be assigned to work there, he said.
Sales at Terminal 1 had fallen by 50 per cent which he attributed directly to the harassment and obstruction, Mr Gross said. Sales at Terminal 2 had operated without interference by Ryanair and those sales had increased, he added.
In an affidavit, Mr Gross said TGL had a long-standing relationship with companies operating rail services from three London airports – Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow – to various terminals in central London.
The injunction application was made on an ex-parte basis, meaning it was made without notice to Ryanair.
