Vol. 405 No. 4
141 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications the extent, if any, of the fifth freedom rights Aer Lingus (1) hold, (2) have held and lost, or (3) are seeking but are unable to obtain, throughout the EC.
Under Council Regulation (EC) No. 2343-90 of 24 July 1990 on market access and capacity sharing, fifth freedom rights are available for scheduled air services between member states, subject to certain conditions. Council Regulation (EC) No. 294-91 of 4 February 1991 makes provision for the operation of cargo only services on a fifth freedom rights basis between member states.
At present, Aer Lingus operate the following fifth freedom services within the Community:
(i) Scheduled Services
Dublin—Manchester—Amsterdam
Dublin—Manchester—Copenhagen
Dublin—Manchester—Milan
Dublin—Manchester—Paris
Dublin—!Bristol—Brussels
(ii) Cargo
Dublin—Birmingham—Frankfurt.
Aer Lingus have recently dropped their scheduled Dublin — Manchester — Hamburg service as part of their "Blueprint for Recovery Programme" and are not at the present time seeking the right to operate any additional fifth freedom services.
During the seventies, fifth freedom rights previously held by Aer Lingus at Manchester were withdrawn by the British authorities.
EC Regulations now enable Aer Lingus to operate fifth freedom services within the Community which were either withdrawn or denied in the past.
