Comhairle Follows Up On Ryanair Pledge

The Chairman of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Transttee, Mr. Norman A. Macdonald, has said he’s very interested in statements made by the Chairman of Ryanair, Mr. Michael O’Leary, that his company would provide flights from the Western Isles to Glasgow with prices from £29 and that 70% of the seating capacity would be at that price.

Mr. Macdonald said: “It is obviously an extremely encouraging pledge from Ryanair and we will be interested to see how they and HIAL now take this matter forward. There are a lot of issues which would have to be discussed and it is very early days. The Comhairle’s priority is to achieve dependable, good quality services at a reasonable price that are scheduled to meet the demands of the customer. We would not be interested in a short term offer at the expense of lifeline services to all of our islands in the long term. However, Mr. O’Leary did say that his company would provide the service at these prices for ten years. That is a substantial length of time for an air service deal and we will be following this up with HIAL, Ryanair and other interested parties”.

Ends

Issued by Nigel Scott
Communications Officer

Tel: 01851 709389 (Work)
Tel: 01851 706412 (Home)
Tel: 07884 236103 (Mobile)
email: nscott@cne-siar.gov.uk