Ryanair today slammed the Civil Aviation Authority’s move to free Stansted from its regulatory regime.
The budget carrier warned that the decision to deregulate will allow Stansted to increase charges in future, resulting in “more damage to UK consumers and competition”.
Legal and regulatory affairs director Juliusz Komorek said: “Ryanair regrets today’s unsupported claim by the CAA that Stansted does not have substantial market power and the CAA’s decision to deregulate Stansted.
“The CAA’s failure to recognise that Stansted has profitably maintained its prices above the competitive level since 2007, despite a 27% fall in traffic, confirms the Competition Commission’s finding that the CAA regulatory regime is ‘inadequate’.
“Today’s decision is an example of the CAA’s regulatory failure which will again harm consumers as Stansted will be able to further increase airport charges whenever it wishes, without any reference to competitive price levels.
“Effective regulation with aggressive price caps is the only way to ensure that consumers are protected and that Stansted can grow its traffic on a sustained basis.
“Ryanair condemns the CAA’s continuing failure to effectively regulate Stansted.”
Charlie Cornish, chief executive of Stansted owner Manchester Airports Group, earlier welcomed the mve by the regulator and said: “The long term growth deals we’ve agreed with airlines – including Ryanair, easyJet and Thomas Cook – will see Stansted continue to grow rapidly over the next decade, offering passengers more choice in terms of destinations and frequencies.”