RYANAIR HAD delayed in paying €8.4 million in charges due to the Dublin Airport Authority because of its dispute over charges for installation of self-service ticket kiosks at the terminal, it was claimed in the High Court yesterday.
The claim came from counsel for the airport authority during the hearing of an application by Ryanair for an injunction to restrain the airport authority from preventing the installation of kiosks at the airport.
Mr Justice John MacMenamin will give his decision on the matter next Wednesday.
Ryanair had initially claimed that it should not have to pay the €1,205 yearly charge for each of the 44 kiosks it wants to install, a total of around €53,000. It now says it will pay the €1,205 charge but will not sign a licensing agreement required by the airport authority before the kiosks are installed.
Ryanair's counsel Frank Beatty said the problem was that the licensing agreement relating to Ryanair differed from an agreement Aer Lingus has for its 41 check-in machines at Dublin airport. He said Ryanair was also not prepared to sign the lease because the consultation process involved in setting up the kiosk charge was still ongoing.
Ryanair and other airlines had asked for a breakdown of the kiosk charges, but the authority seemed to have abandoned the consultation process and decided it could "unilaterally" impose the charge, Mr Beatty said.
He said the charge amounted to a "double charge" because Ryanair was already paying through various charges imposed on it by the airport authority.
The High Court heard earlier this week that the bulk of €8.4 million due from Ryanair in charges was only handed over the day after proceedings were issued by the Dublin Airport Authority against it.
Yesterday, Paul Sreenan SC, for the authority, said Ryanair has no right to occupy commercial space at the airport unconditionally and without payment, Mr Sreenan said.
He said the consultation process is complete and Ryanair has no right to veto it.
Mr Sreenan also said Ryanair had no evidence justifying a complaint against the Dublin Airport Authority under the Competition Act. Merely requiring a party to use space in the terminal in a certain way is not an abuse of dominant position, he said.
The kiosks Ryanair wants to install would allow passengers to print out their own tickets at the terminal.
Apart from the 41 already installed by Aer Lingus, five other airlines have between two and four machines each and all will have to pay the €1,205 charge from January 1st next, the court heard.
