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Palma.—Ryanair, Spain's largest airline, has welcomed this week's joint statement from the Irish and SpanishTransport Ministries which affirms that Ryanair's safety standards are on par with the safest airlines in Europe.

Ryanair invited the Spanish Ministry to send a team of inspectors to Dublin to correct any (misplaced) concerns about Ryanair's compliance with Europe's highest operating and maintenance standards by providing them with unfettered access to Ryanair operating, maintenance and flight training facilities and unlimited access to Ryanair's safety, flight management, engineering and maintenance personnel.

Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: “We welcome the joint statement from the Irish and Spanish Governments which affirms that Ryanair's safety standards are on a par with the safest airlines in Europe.” Irish and Spanish aviation authorities have particularly agreed to jointly investigate the diversion to Madrid of a Ryanair flight from Paris to Tenerife following a technical issue.

The decision came at a meeting of air safety experts in Dublin which followed a series of comments by Spanish authorities about incidents in Spanish airspace involving Europe's largest budget airline. Spanish authorities are investigating emergency landings by three Ryanair planes in Valencia on July 26 after they approached their minimum required fuel.

Ryanair has said the July landings were forced by bad weather and that it complies fully with EU safety procedures.
Spanish authorities are also looking into an incident in which a Ryanair flight diverted and landed at Barcelona's El Prat airport after a possible engine fault was detected.

The investigation was announced following a diversion on Sunday.
Ryanair said in a statement the flight from Paris to Tenerife was diverted to Madrid.
Ryanair has accused the Spanish aviation authorities of falsifying information on incidents involving its planes, an accusation Spanish officials have rejected.

Spain's Public Works minister Ana Pastor, whose ministry runs aviation safety, has called for tighter safety regimes at low-cost airlines following a series of media reports about emergency incidents.

Ryanair has rejected claims by the Irish pilots' union (IALPA) that it pressures flight crew to carry the minimum amount of fuel required under European regulations.