Call on Aer Lingus to explain Mannion's 'Failur...

RYANAIR CALLS ON AER LINGUS BOARD TO EXPLAIN
               MANNION'S ¤2.8 MILLION 'FAILURE BONUS'

             [IF AER LINGUS HAS AN 'INDEPENDENT' FUTURE,
 WHY HAS MANNION A LIFEBOAT WITH ¤2.8 MILLION OF SHAREHOLDERS CASH]

Ryanair today (Sunday, 4th Jan 2009) called on the Board of Aer
Lingus to explain why Aer Lingus' CEO Dermot Mannion has recently
been granted an indefensible and unprecedented  ¤2.8 million 'Failure
Bonus', if Aer Lingus undergoes a change of control.  Ryanair called
this 'Failure Bonus' unprecedented, because it is not compensation
for loss of office, but rather a spectacular secret bonus, which can
be triggered by Dermot Mannion himself should he choose to resign
immediately following a change of control of Aer Lingus.  Ryanair
believes that this secret 'Failure Bonus' should be put to all
shareholders for approval at Aer Lingus' next AGM, which will allow
all shareholders (including Government, ESOT, Tailwinds and Ryanair)
to consider whether Mr. Mannion, who has delivered substantial
operating losses in two of the last three years (2006 and 2008),
should be able to trigger such an excessively generous 'Failure
Bonus'.

Commenting on today's Sunday Independent scoop, Ryanair's Chief
Executive Michael O'Leary, said:
"It is extraordinary at a time when Aer Lingus is cutting jobs and
cutting pay, that it is doing a secret deal with Dermot Mannion to
award him a ¤2.8 million 'Failure Bonus', which he alone can trigger
simply by resigning.
"This secretly negotiated ¤2.8 million deal proves that Dermot
Mannion has no faith in Aer Lingus' future as an independent
airline.  If Dermot Mannion and the Aer Lingus Board really believed
that Aer Lingus has an 'independent' future, then they wouldn't be
secretly stuffing ¤2.8 million of shareholders cash into Dermot
Mannion's resignation lifeboat.
"The recently departed FAS Chief Executive received deserved
criticism for his ¤500,000 resignation pay off.  He looks to have
been short-changed by comparison with the almost ¤3 million failure
bonus, which Dermot Mannion has secretly negotiated and can trigger
simply by resigning.  I know of no other plc, which while cutting pay
and jobs, is at the same time stuffing the Chief Executives lifeboat
with ¤2.8 million of shareholders cash.
"The Board of Aer Lingus must explain this unprecedented, unjustified
extraordinary secret deal to all shareholders".

Ends.
Sunday, 4th January 2009
Enquiries:
Ryanair                                                          +353
1 812 1212
Howard Millar
Davy Corporate Finance                              [phone]
(Financial Adviser to Ryanair)
Eugenée Mulhern
Brian Garrahy
Morgan Stanley                                             +44 20
7425 5000
(Financial Adviser to Ryanair)
Colm Donlon
Adrian Doyle
Murray Consultants                                     +353 1 498
0300
(Public Relations Advisers to Ryanair)
Pauline McAlester

Davy  Corporate  Finance,  which  is  regulated  in  Ireland  by  the
Financial Regulator, is acting  exclusively for Ryanair and  Coinside
and no  one  else  in connection  with  the  Offer and  will  not  be
responsible to anyone other than  Ryanair and Coinside for  providing
the protections afforded to clients of Davy Corporate Finance nor for
providing advice  in relation  to  the Offer,  the contents  of  this
document or  any  transaction  or arrangement  referred  to  in  this
announcement.

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one else in connection with the Offer and will not be responsible  to
anyone other than Ryanair and Coinside for providing the  protections
afforded to clients  of Morgan  Stanley nor for  providing advice  in
relation  to  the  Offer,  the  contents  of  this  document  or  any
transaction or arrangement referred to in this announcement.

Defined terms used in this announcement  have the same meaning as  in
the announcement dated 1 December, 2008 issued by Ryanair.

The availability  of the  Offer  to persons  outside Ireland  may  be
affected by  the  laws of  the  relevant jurisdiction.  Such  persons
should  inform   themselves   about  and   observe   any   applicable
requirements. The Offer will not be made, directly or indirectly,  in
or into Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, the United States  or
any other jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so, or by use
of the mails, or by any means or instrumentality (including,  without
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exchange of any jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so, and
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would be unlawful to do so. Accordingly, copies of this  announcement
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the right  to  permit  the Offer  to  be  accepted if,  in  its  sole
discretion, it  is  satisfied that  the  transaction in  question  is
exempt from or not  subject to the  legislation or regulation  giving
rise to the restrictions in question.

The directors of Ryanair and  Coinside accept responsibility for  the
information contained  in  this  announcement,  save  that  the  only
responsibility accepted by the directors  of Ryanair and Coinside  in
respect of  the  information in  this  announcement relating  to  Aer
Lingus, the Aer Lingus Group, the directors of Aer Lingus and persons
connected with them, which has been compiled from published  sources,
has been  to ensure  that  such information  has been  correctly  and
fairly reproduced or presented (and no  steps have been taken by  the
directors of Ryanair or Coinside to verify this information). To  the
best of the  knowledge and  belief of  the directors  of Ryanair  and
Coinside (who have taken all reasonable  care to ensure that such  is
the case), the information contained  in this announcement for  which
they accept responsibility is in  accordance with the facts and  does
not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information.

The sources and bases for information in this announcement common  to
that contained in the announcement  issued by Ryanair on 1  December,
2008 ("2.5  Announcement" )  and Ryanair's  Offer Document  dated  15
December  2008  ("The  Offer  Document")  are  set  out  in  the  2.5
Announcement and The Offer Document.    The source for the amount  of
¤2.8 million is the Sunday Independent article (Dated 4 January 2009,
Page 23).

This announcement  does  not  constitute  an  offer  to  sell  or  an
invitation to  purchase  or  subscribe  for  any  securities  or  the
solicitation  of  an   offer  to  purchase   or  subscribe  for   any
securities.  Any response  in relation  to the Offer  should be  made
only on the basis of the information contained in the Offer  Document
or any document by which the Offer is made.

This announcement includes certain 'forward looking statements'  with
respect to the business, strategy and plans of Ryanair and Aer Lingus
and their  respective expectations  relating to  the Cash  Offer  and
their future financial condition and performance. Statements that are
not historical  facts,  including  statements about  Ryanair  or  Aer
Lingus  or  Ryanair's  management's  beliefs  and  expectations,  are
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relate to events and depend upon future circumstances that may or may
not occur.Examples of  such forward looking  statements include,  but
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associated with the Cash Offer, projections or expectations of profit
attributable to shareholders, anticipated provisions or  write-downs,
economic profit, dividends, capital structure or any other  financial
items or ratios; statements of plans, objectives or goals of  Ryanair
or the combined business following  the Cash Offer; statements  about
the future  trends in  interest  rates, liquidity,  foreign  exchange
rates, stock market levels and demographic trends and any impact that
those matters may have on Ryanair or the combined group following the
Cash Offer; statements concerning any  future Irish, UK, US or  other
economic  environment  or  performance;  statements  about  strategic
goals, competition,  regulation, regulatory  approvals,  dispositions
and consolidation  or  technological developments  in  the  financial
services industry;  and  statements of  assumptions  underlying  such
statements.Factors  that  could  cause   actual  results  to   differ
materially from the  plans, objectives,  expectations, estimates  and
intentions expressed  in such  forward  looking statements  made  by
Ryanair or Aer Lingus or on their behalf include, but are not limited
to, general economic conditions in  Ireland, the United Kingdom,  the
United States or elsewhere; regulatory scrutiny, legal proceedings or
complaints; changes  in  competition and  pricing  environments;  the
inability to hedge certain risks  economically; the adequacy of  loss
reserves; the  ability  to  secure new  customers  and  develop  more
business from existing customers; the Cash Offer not being  completed
or  not   being   completed  as   currently   envisaged;   additional
unanticipated costs associated with the  Cash Offer or the  operating
of the combined group; or an  inability to implement the strategy  of
the combined group or achieve the Cash Offer benefits set out in this
announcement. Additional factors that  could cause actual results  to
differ materially from forward looking statements are set out in  the
most recent annual  reports and accounts  of Ryanair and Aer  Lingus,
including Ryanair's most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed with
the SEC.
Forward-looking statements only speak  as of the  date on which  they
are made,  and the  events  discussed in  this announcement  may  not
occur. Subject  to compliance  with  applicable law  and  regulation,
neither Ryanair nor Coinside  undertakes  any  obligation  to  update
publicly or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
Any person who is the holder of 1  per cent. or more of any class  of
shares in Aer Lingus or Ryanair  may be required to make  disclosures
pursuant to  Rule  8.3 of  the  Takeover  Rules with  effect  from  1
December, 2008 the date of the announcement which commenced the Offer
Period in respect of the Offer.

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