Ryanair in discussions on 1st eastern Europe base

Ryanair has signalled it's intent to open it's first base in eastern Europe if it can hammer out a deal with Bratislava airport in the Slovak Republic. However the deal which would see three based aircraft operating a total of 20 routes and generating 1.6m passengers per year depends on the carrier negotiating a 70% reduction in fees according to the "Slovak Spectator". Ryanair has apparently requested no airport fees be levied on it's proposed operation with 70% discount as the bottom line it will settle for.

The Slovak Ministry of Transport owns 48% of Bratislva airport and considers Ryanair's demands unfair. A spokeswoman for the airport said that if they agree to Ryanair's maximum demand there will be no increase in revenue "Therefore we will consider the conditions carefully".
Last week during a visit to Austria, Michael O'Leary readily engaged in gamesmanship in his attempts to wrangle a deal out of Vienna. He said that passenger numbers in Vienna will continue to fall until such a time as passenger charges were reduced. He added that Ryanair had alternatives - neighbouring Bratislava airport had approached Ryanair in the wake of the collapse of SkyEurope to set up a base at the Slovak capital. Austrian newspaper "Die Presse" reported that Vienna airport were not interested in meeting Ryanair's demands.
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