Ryanair must pay the same charges and adhere to the same rules of conduct governing ground-handling operations at Dublin Airport as the 116 other airlines using the airport, a High Court judge has ruled. Mr Justice Kelly yesterday refused to continue interim orders granted last month which restrained Aer Rianta from requiring Ryanair to pay the new charges and conform to the new rules, which were imposed on all other airlines at Dublin Airport on January 1st.
It was "highly undesirable" that an airport catering for 117 airlines and 14 million passengers should have one set of rules for 116 airlines and another set of rules for one, the judge said. This was not good, sensible or orderly management of an airport and should not be forced on Aer Rianta by the court.
He was giving judgment on an application by Ryanair for interlocutory orders, continuing until the outcome of a challenge by Ryanair to the new charges and rules, restraining Aer Rianta from imposing the new charges and rules on the private airline.
Ryanair claims the charges and rules are in excess of Aer Rianta's powers, unfair and unreasonable. The judge said it was not for the court to evaluate the case.
He could not say Ryanair's case was so clear in law as to be unanswerable. Ryanair had satisfied the High Court when it se cured leave last month to challenge the charges and rules, that it had an arguable case. A higher standard of proof was required for an interlocutory order and he was satisfied Ryanair had established a serious issue to be tried in the full hearing.
However, he continued, damages clearly were an adequate remedy in relation to the challenge to the new charges. In that context, it was difficult to see how an order relating to the charges themselves could ever have been applied for. The position regarding the rules was not so clear, he said. Ryanair claimed the rules contained provisions which could lead to Aer Rianta altering existing rights which Ryanair claimed to have regarding Pier A at Dublin Airport where it parked its aircraft. Aer Rianta had not so far attempted to alter those alleged rights and had said on affidavit there was no question of any contractual rights being overridden. The judge said the injunction being sought in relation to the rules was essentially an injunction into the future and there was no evidence to show sufficient risk of future injury.
Even if he was wrong on that point, the judge said he would refuse the injunction on grounds related to the balance of convenience. Aer Rianta was responsible for the orderly management of Dublin Airport, not the court.
