O'Leary's Ryanair bonus almost halved

THE BONUS payment made by Ryanair to its chief executive Michael O’Leary was almost halved to €241,000 in the year to the end…

THE BONUS payment made by Ryanair to its chief executive Michael O’Leary was almost halved to €241,000 in the year to the end of March 2010, according to a document filed with the Securities Exchange Commission in the US.

Mr O’Leary was paid a bonus of €470,000 in the previous year.

The 20-F form, filed this week, shows Mr O’Leary was paid a basic salary of €595,000 last year.

He did not receive a salary increase, having surrendered 10 per cent of his basic payment in the previous 12-month period.

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In total, Ryanair paid its eight directors and nine executives €4.5 million in the year to the end of March last.

Not for the first time, chairman David Bonderman waived his fee.

Each of its directors was paid a fee of €32,000 plus expenses. Members of its various committees were also paid €15,000 each.

Director Michael Horgan was paid €40,000 for “additional duties in relation to the air safety committee”.

Directors’ fees amounted to €280,000 last year, the same as in fiscal 2009.

Emmanuel Faber’s term as a director has expired and the 20-F form states he will not be seeking re-election at its upcoming annual meeting.

The document shows that five of Ryanair’s top 10 routes are out of Dublin airport, in spite of the airline cutting back its services there and being heavily critical of the Government and the Dublin Airport Authority for the introduction of a €10 air travel tax and higher passenger charges.

Routes from Dublin to Stansted, Gatwick and Luton airports in London, and Manchester and Birmingham feature in its top 10.

On the volcanic ash crisis, Ryanair says it has refunded fares to about 1.5 million passengers due to flight cancellations and booked a charge of €50 million.