Madam, - I cannot allow to pass without comment WJ Murphy's suggestion (April 29th) that if Michael O'Leary allows Luton to pass for London, Beauvais to pass for Paris and Hahn to pass for Frankfurt, then Cork, Shannon or Knock can pass for Dublin.
The difference is that from Luton, Beavais or Hahn you can travel into the centre of the relevant city in less than an hour, which is no more than 30 minutes extra compared with the travel time from Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt Flughafen into the city centre. If he compares the travel time from Cork, Shannon or Knock airports into central Dublin with that from Dublin airport to the city centre, he would find it is considerably longer. The chaotic state of our roads and rail is such that you would hardly make Dublin in time to get back for your flight home.
I am no apologist for Ryanair, and its rules on ID and 40-minute check-in times have in the past caught me out and cost me money. But the airline does its job, as is shown by its passenger numbers, even to out-of-town airports. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT T. MOYNIHAN, Fyfield Rock Road, Blackrock, Co Louth.