SUE EC OVER AID TO VOLARE

Ryanair Holdings PLC
29 November 2007



                     RYANAIR AGAIN SUES EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                FOR ITS FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL STATE AID
                           TO ITALIAN AIRLINE VOLARE

Ryanair, Europe's favourite low fares airline, today (Thursday, 29th November
2007) lodged a further (fourth) case in the European Court of First Instance
against the European Commission's failure to act on Ryanair's complaint about
illegal State aid to a subsidiary of Alitalia - Volare. The aid consisted of the
write-off of around €20 million in debts owed by Volare to Italian airports and
reductions in airport charges and fuel costs in favour of Volare. Ryanair has
called on the Commission to investigate this obvious abuse of EU competition
rules over 2 years ago, but the Commission has so far failed to do so.

Announcing the launch of these proceedings Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, said:

    'This is just another example of the Commission's favouritism towards
    inefficient national airlines and its bias against small regional and
    secondary airports and the low fares airlines. On one hand, the Commission
    repeatedly ignores blatant State aid to Alitalia and its subsidiaries, and
    to Air France, Lufthansa, Olympic, and others. The Italian Government's
    recurring attempts to protect 'Italian aviation' include the bail out of
    Volare and its subsequent transfer to Alitalia. The write-off of some €20
    million of airport debts is a blatant abuse of EU State aid rules, yet the
    Commission has refused to do anything about this since 2005. We were left
    with no alternative but to challenge the Commission's inaction in the
    European courts.

    'On the other hand the Commission continues to waste time and taxpayers'
    money investigating spurious complaints against standard free market deals
    at regional and secondary airports, for example Tampere and Alghero. These
    investigations were prompted by inefficient high fare flag carrier airlines
    operating at expensive hub airports, who would never fly to these smaller
    airports and are simply trying to block competition and consumer choice.
    Only yesterday the Commission announced another pointless investigation, at
    the tiny regional airport of Pau in south-west France.

    'This discriminatory and biased approach to the enforcement of the State aid
    rules by the Commission, which is damaging the industry and harming
    consumers, must end! We are therefore calling on the Commission to start
    promoting competition and consumer choice, put an end to unlawful State aid
    to flag carrier airlines, and stop protecting these inefficient airlines and
    their subsidiaries'.

    Ends.                                         Thursday, 29th November 2007



    Peter Sherrard - Ryanair   Pauline McAlester - Murray Consultants

    Tel: [phone]     Tel: [phone]



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