03.02.10
Ryanair has threatened to move its flights from Stansted - its biggest base - to Gatwick if its new owner lives up to promises to improve its facilities and keep charges down, the budget airline's chief operating officer, Michael Cawley, said yesterday.
In an interview Gatwick’s chief executive Stewart Wingate vowed to compete against London’s other airports - as did his Stansted counterpart in an interview last week. Mr Wingate was in charge at Stansted until he was poached by Gatwick's new owners two months ago.
Mr Cawley said it was great that the boss of a London airport was finally talking about improving services and lowering prices. He said: ‘We haven't seen this kind of talk since the early 80s when the BAA monopoly was formed. Certainly we are up for talking with Stewart - after all, Gatwick has had virtually zero growth for the last few years.’
Ryanair currently flies 109 routes from Stansted, 20 from Luton and 8 from Gatwick. Budget rival easyJet is Gatwick's biggest airline, and the airport is reported to be virtually slot bound (full up) at peak times, so it is hard to see where this growth will come from.
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