RYANAIR STATEMENT ON DISPATCHES PROGRAMME
Ryanair confirmed that this evening's Dispatches programme
on Channel 4
failed to produce any new evidence of any safety or security breaches
in Ryanair
despite 5 months of undercover filming. This follows today's "manufactured"
advert by Channel 4 of a cabin crew sleeping on an aircraft which was
not a
Ryanair aircraft.
The 20 allegations which were forwarded to Ryanair in writing on the
12th
January have been comprehensively disproven by the factual evidence provided
by
Ryanair (all of which has been published on Ryanair's website at
www.ryanair.com).
Both the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK and the Irish Aviation Authority
in Ireland have also confirmed that there was "no substance in any
of the
allegations made in the letter from the production company".
It is interesting that the Dispatches program after 5 months of filming,
covering over 100,000 flights, could only produce a couple of isolated
examples of
minor breaches by Ryanair cabin crew of Ryanair's own policies and
procedures. Each of these will be investigated (as is normal in
all such cases) and
reported to both the IAA and the CAA. Ryanair will not comment further
on these
isolated incidents until the conclusion of these investigations.
Commenting on this evening's Dispatches programme, Ryanair's Chief Executive,
Michael O'Leary said:
"Ryanair operates to the highest safety standards in Europe.
The fact that a
5 month undercover documentary could not produce evidence of any breaches
of
safety or security policies, bears witness to the safety and security
compliance of Ryanair's operations, and the outstanding service that is
provided to
our 40 million passengers annually by the 3,500 professionals who work
here.
The refusal of the Dispatches programme to accept Ryanair's offers of
an
interview and their refusal to run Ryanair's statement without editing
it makes it
clear that it is the Dispatches programme that had something to hide,
not
Ryanair.
As always Ryanair will let the travelling public decide.
We will release 3
million free seats at midnight on our website at www.ryanair.com for travel
during the months of February, March and April. All passengers have
to pay will
be the airport taxes and charges. The airline is confident that
the
travelling public will continue to support and enjoy Ryanair's service
across Europe".
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