Ms Cathy Mannion:

The same European regulations apply across Europe to the different enforcement agencies. The legal framework could be different in different countries but, speaking as a non-lawyer, regulators - at least those of us in the UK - have similar powers in issuing directions. It comes down to a matter of judgment. My focus was on getting information to passengers. I did not want to take the risk that Ryanair would not engage and would sit back and reflect upon that direction. We got certain additional information from it in that period. We knew about the partnership agreement that was part of the rerouting policy which was in the final email that went to Ryanair's passengers on Friday morning on 25 September. In fact, we knew about that in 2016. The threat of legal action by the Civil Aviation Authority, CAA, did not result in this arrangement being created overnight. That is impossible. The arrangement was there. It was just a case of getting Ryanair to put it down on paper. I do not accept that because somebody waves an enforcement letter and takes a more open approach, that person is stronger. It is a matter of judgment, I made that call and it worked.

On Ryanair not consulting, it has a track record and if one goes back, Ryanair and the Commissioner for Aviation Regulation have a long history and not a consultative one, I imagine. In this case, I know that as soon as we started to speak to Ryanair, it knew that it had a problem. I could see it was focused on trying to get flights sorted. However, every time we spoke to it to try to get information, it came back to me as quickly as it could, so I do not accept that it was just fobbing us off or playing a game with us. We worked with it, and that Friday morning was in our diary from two or three weeks previously. The date that we and the CAA had was a coincidence.

I know I had the same legal powers as the CAA. My first concern is not whether I am perceived as stronger or weaker because I have not publicly issued a letter or got involved in a public exchange of letters because, to me, that is not always the best way to do things. We got the outcome we wanted. Everyone takes their own view as to which the better approach was but that is the approach I took. When I said I would take that approach again, I would in the same circumstances but I do not want this to happen again in future. I want to have arrangements in place with airlines in advance so that we know if something comes up, we have a process to follow, the information gets out and there is clarity.