Ryanair followed through on its threat Friday and submitted a claim for compensation worth just over 3 million ($5.7 million) to the UK Dept. for Transport.The LCC said the figure reflects its losses from cancellations and lost bookings over the week of Aug. 10-16. It insisted it does not want to profit from the operation and committed to donating all proceeds received from a successful claim to the Orbis charity, which is fighting to eliminate avoidable blindness in the developing world. Ryanair received negative publicity last year after removing nine visually impaired passengers from a flight to Italy. It said at the time it could handle no more than four such passengers per flight, but revised its policies afterward (ATWOnline, Nov. 18).

The carrier had warned the government of its intentions, saying that it would file suit unless security regulations were returned to normal at UK airports (ATWOnline, Aug. 21).

"The purpose of this claim is to encourage the DfT to restore UK airport security to the effective IATA norm," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said. "The UK DfT is doing nothing to restore normality. The longer these additional, yet nonsensical and ineffective, security measures remain at the UK airports, then the more UK passengers and visitors will suffer unnecessary queuing, delays and flight cancellations. The DfT is undermining the credibility of UK airport security."

The carrier also suggested that if, "as the Dept. for Transport claims, British citizens are really in danger from toiletries, cosmetics and liquids, then they should be banning these products in airport duty frees as well as onboard inbound UK flights, the London Underground and on Eurotunnel as well."

The BBC reported that the government said the 1982 Aviation Security Act allows it to implement measures to ensure security as it sees fit and that Ryanair has no legal grounds for its claim. "We continue to face a serious security threat and we will not compromise security," a DfT spokesperson said.