Ryanair threatens to stop domestic flights in Italy over new rules on ID documents

Ryanair, the budget airline based in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, has threatened to stop domestic flights in Italy from January 23, 2010, following a dispute with Italy’s aviation authorities over new rules on ID documents which the passengers have to show at airport-gates.

In a statement, Ryanair said it will cease to operate domestic flights at 10 airports in Italy unless the issue on new rules on ID documents is resolved.

Ryanair operates flights from the Italian airports of Rome (Ciampino Airport), Milan (Bergamo Airport), Bologna, Bari, Cagliari, Alghero, Pescara, Brindisi, Trapani, and Pisa.

Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (ENAC), the civil aviation authority of Italy, had, in November 2009, ordered airlines to accept government badges, driving licences, fishing licence, hunting licence and other documents to identify passengers at boarding gates of airports for domestic flights.

According to Ryanair, ever since it began operating totally with online check-ins, the passengers are asked at the time of booking to show their passport or identity card before boarding a plane.

Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, stressed in the statement that the documents the Italian authorities are asking for now – such as government badges and fishing and hunting licences – are less secure than the IDs that Ryanair demands at the time of booking, and that this could threatens the security of flights.

In the opinion of Michael O’Leary, it is “completely inappropriate” for ENAC to introduce steps which diminish security on domestic flights in Italy, compared to the security measures that have been “successfully used” on all flights of Ryanair in the European Union (EU) as well as on domestic flights of Ryanair in all non-EU countries.

However, ENAC has rejected Ryanair’s objections to the on new rules on ID documents, arguing that the new rules have been based on a law passed in 2000 and that all airlines except Ryanair have complied with the rules.

In a statement, ENAC made it clear that no airline will be allowed to operate on the national or domestic routes in Italy without obeying the new rules. Ryanair, ENAC added, is the only international carrier that wants to fly in Italy “without respecting Italy’s law.”

ENAC said it will lodge a protest with the Civil Aviation Authority of Ireland and also inform Franco Frattini, Italy’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, of the situation.

An administrative tribunal in Rome, the capital of Italy, had dismissed a week ago Ryanair’s petition requesting to suspend the new rules on ID documents.

Ryanair’s dispute with Italy’s civil aviation authority over the new rules on ID documents that the passengers have to show at airport-gates has acquired more significance and relevance now after a Nigerian man attempted to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane, flying from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and carrying 278 passengers on board, as it was about to land in Detroit, the United States, on Christmas Day.