Ryanair has called for Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan to resign unless he can put an end to persistent closures at Dublin Airport due to interference from drones.
The airport suspended all flights for half an hour on Thursday evening for the sixth time in the past six weeks due to drone activity. Flights were prevented for departing or landing at Dublin between 6:27pm and 6:59pm following a drone sighting.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said the situation was unacceptable and that Minister Ryan had "failed to take any effective action to protect Dublin Airport and his strategy of holding 'meetings' is useless.
"As always Minister Ryan promises 'stronger measures' but delivers nothing."
O'Leary said that major European airports such as London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, and Amsterdam Schipol all have effective anti-drone measures in place to prevent closures
In Association with
"Minister Ryan should explain why other European airports have effective drone measures in place but Dublin Airport keeps being closed, while he is asleep on the job," he continued.
"Sadly, our Transport Minister is all talk and no action when it comes to drone closures. As Transport Minister he should now fix this issue or resign and let somebody more effective do the job.”
O'Leary said some 20,000 passengers were affected by Thursday's disruption, and called on Ryan to spend €100,000 to buy equipment capable of identifying and disabling drones.
A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said the "severe disruption" to airport operations by drone activity is unacceptable, describing the repeated incidents as "very concerning".
"The Plan for Aviation Safety which contains actions to address the risks of drone infringements, and which has already been published, must now be progressed as a matter of urgency," they continued.
"The severe disruption imposed on passengers, airlines and other stakeholders is unacceptable and measures to address the drone issue must be now expedited in order to prevent any further recurrence of this type of disruption.”
DAA, which operates Dublin Airport, said gardai had been informed of the incident of a drone flying within 5km of the airport, describing it as "reckless and illegal activity".
"Drones causing disruptions at airports and events is a state wide issue that needs to be tackled with new legislation, a state agency responsible for managing counter drone technology and harsher sentences," DAA said in a tweet.
Gardai last week charged a man in his 40s as part of an investigation of drone activity at Dublin Airport last July.
(Pic: Getty Images)
