asked the Minister for Transport and Power the number of applications for permission to operate charter flights refused by his Department in 1968 and 1969; and the reasons for the refusals in each case.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Charter Flights.
56.
In 1969, 15 applications for transatlantic charter flights from non-scheduled carriers were refused because adequate capacity was being provided by scheduled carriers on the routes on which the flights were to operate. No application was refused in 1968.
Can the Minister say what effect the refusal of these applications had on the volume of tourist traffic, or what percentage of the people who had intended to travel by charter subsequently availed of the scheduled services? Would it have amounted to a substantial loss?
No. On balance we gained substantially by this. It is a question of the organisation of air traffic between the scheduled carriers. The main pirates, if you like, in this sphere, come from the United States of America, so that the people who can benefit most from organised air traffic through scheduled air lines are the European countries, including ourselves. The whole purpose of the exercise is to ensure that as far as possible world air traffic is regulated and, in particular, that there is no breach of IATA regulations through a large number of private enterprise charter operations in the United States. That could do grievous harm to the Irish tourist and aviation business and the European tourist and aviation business.
Would the Minister say whether the recent announcement of drastically reduced fares on scheduled services to the United States will have the effect of doing away with charter flights altogether?
To some extent the Deputy is right here. This is an effort by airlines here to be more competitive, but fundamentally it is of great importance to ensure that there is organisation in regard to air traffic in order that the airlines will be able to do their business satisfactorily. We run a small airline by world standards but we have a strong interest in ensuring that the regulations are maintained and that order is secured in air traffic.
The remaining questions will appear on to-morrow's Order Paper.