NEWS RELEASE – Swinney must not give in to Ryanair blackmail

Posted on October 20, 2009

Responding to news that Michael Cawley, Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair, will meet with Finance Secretary John Swinney today to ask for the Air Route Development Fund (ARDF) to be reintroduced or for a similar fund to be set up, Scottish Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie urged Mr Swinney not to give in to Ryanair’s blackmail. The airline is claiming that it might deliver new jobs and tourists to Scotland, but only if the Scottish Government comes up with cash to support it.

The ARDF was scrapped soon after the SNP came to power in 2007 as part of an agreement with the Scottish Greens, who sought to stop subsidies to air travel and instead provide support for public transport through future budgets.

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“This is nothing more than a shameless bid for a bung from the taxpayer, made by a company which seems to revel in its status as a serious polluter. Back in 2007 we made it clear that we wouldn’t support the SNP’s budget unless they scrapped this outrageous aviation subsidy, and I’m glad to say that they accepted that. Any reversal of that decision would put the Scottish Government in the pocket of Ryanair and would make a mockery of Scotland’s recently-agreed climate change targets. I strongly urge Mr Swinney not to give in to Ryanair’s calculated and cynical blackmail attempt.

“We don’t need to stop flying altogether, but the idea that we can just keep expanding aviation year after year while still taking climate change seriously is absurd. The Scottish tourism industry can have a great future, but it will mean attracting people from closer to home, who can get here by rail and by ferry, as well as Scots who want to see more of their own country. The answer is not to develop more opportunities for Ryanair to make a fast and dirty buck from the public purse.”

1 Comment

  1. When Ryanair advices Scottish govnerment…it sounds like blackmail but there is no guarantee for Scotland’s Finance Minister and it would be only a temporal solution. Indeed, Ryanair will close these routes since the moment this “growth fund” will disappear

    Comment by Roman — October 21, 2009 @ 6:51 pm