EASYJET, the British low-cost carrier, has said it has no intention of entering the Dublin market, write Des Crowley and Tom McEnaney.

The denial comes despite claims by Aer Rianta worker representatives at the Oireachtas joint committee on transport last Thursday that Easyjet would fly to Dublin if the new Terminal D proposed by Aer Rianta were built.

Easyjet confirmed it has not considered flights to Dublin for some years because “Ryanair has a monopoly on the Dublin market for low-cost carriers”.

In a separate development, internal Aer Rianta figures have revealed that Dublin airport’s profits fell 14% to €31m last year. Although turnover was almost static at €213m, higher costs forced profits down.

Shannon, which is set to lose its stopover status, had a particularly bad 2002. Its €2.7m profit turned into a €1.1m loss as turnover fell 22% to €94.3m. Cork was the only airport to record an improvement. Its €1m loss in 2001 was converted into a €1.6m profit.

The plans for Terminal D at Dublin airport are currently on hold. Seamus Brennan, the transport minister, favours a private terminal initiative. The workers feel this would discourage other carriers who might otherwise come to Dublin.

Barry Nevin, a Siptu representative, said Ryanair would not allow competition to flourish at the airport.

A spokeswoman for Easyjet said: “It would not be financially viable for Easyjet to mirror the Ryanair services.” The company said it had a general policy of only taking on “full service” airlines such as British Airways and competing with them on price.

“There would be little profit margin in competing with Ryanair. Right now our policy is to concentrate on Paris, which we are developing, because there is no substantial competition for us in France, and other places on the Continent don’t have any low-cost services at all. We now consider ourselves to be a pan-European airline,” she said.

Easyjet has six routes out of Belfast, where it flies from Belfast International airport. The company said it hopes to develop this service further.

Aer Rianta has held firm in its opposition to Brennan’s plans for an independent terminal at Dublin airport. A report prepared for the airport operator by Nera, an economic consultancy, supports its position.

It states: “It is extremely uncertain whether any form of independent terminal at Dublin would be commercially viable, given the need to compete with Aer Rianta’s regulated charges. These reflect substantially written-down assets and the effects of Aer Rianta’s success as an airport retailer.

“The creation of an independent terminal at Dublin airport is therefore unlikely to introduce genuine competitive pressure into the market for airport terminal infrastructure, or to enhance the choices available to airline customers.”

The report also rejects Brennan’s proposal to break up Aer Rianta.

“Our principal conclusion is that airport charges would increase above current levels at each airport under standalone operation,” it states.