Ryanair lose another court case...... Check-in charges

[flugholm]

From todays Irish Independent.....

Quote:
Ryanair not so 'cute' in row over check-in charges
RYANAIR yesterday lost a court challenge to plans by the Dublin Airport Authority to charge airlines more than €60,000 for the use of check-in desks.
Ryanair claimed charges of €64,751 per check-in desk, and including the costs of a computerised check-in service known as CUTE (Common User Terminal Equipment), were excessive.
The airline said the decision to approve them, made by the Commission in December 2004, was arbitrary and unreasonable.
Ryanair argued it provides its own ground handling services, does not use CUTE and is a "self-handler" within the provisions of the European Communities Groundhandling Regulations, and so should not have to pay for the costs of providing CUTE.
In his reserved judgment yesterday, Mr Justice John Quirke said the Airport Authority had the required competence and expertise to decide upon the criteria to be applied to the fixing of fees for access to installations at Dublin Airport.
It was "unsurprising", he added, that the costs of providing the service should be the most relevant factor in the calculation of the fees to be charged.
Another factor in the Commission's decision was the need to establish and to take into account the concerns of other airport users, he said.
Ryanair had failed to prove the decision was made unlawfully and this and all the other claims by the airline made must be dismissed, he ruled.
Ann O'Loughlin