Ms Patricia Barton:

Only on the rerouting issue. The wording of the regulation does not expressly require an air carrier to reroute on other air carriers. The spirit of the regulation has been commented on as being one where they would be very proactive. It is difficult water to navigate. There has been debate on it at European level for ten years and the clarity is still not there. For ten years, this has been a subject of discussion. On that basis, we have been working with Ryanair during recent years. Last year we met its representatives on foot of the air traffic controllers, ATC, disruption. I do not know if many of the members remember how many flights were affected by that. There was mass disruption. We met Ryanair's representatives to discuss how they were endeavouring to meet their obligations under Regulation 261 in that context. We were very aware that they were looking beyond the spirit and letter of the regulation in terms of the obligation to reroute on air carriers. They were building alliances with other air carriers for rerouting purposes. That regulation was in place, but the wording of it is technical and it has been the source of debate for the past ten years.