Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 22 Mar 2001

Vol. 165 No. 15

Adjournment Matters. - Air Services.

Mr. Connor

This issue is important in terms of transport in the west. The Minister for Public Enterprise is not here this evening but I am glad the Minister of State is here because the airport about which I speak is in his constituency.

On 12 January the Minister of State, I and others were invited to Knock Airport for the inauguration of a new service between Knock Airport and Dublin Airport. We were all delighted about this new service which was to begin on 18 January. However, due to industrial relations problems in the company, Aer Arann, the service was not put in place until 15 February. The service was established because it was given a public service subvention by the State. In other words, the Department of Public Enterprise underwrites losses incurred by the company operating this service. This means the company cannot lose.

The contract for the service was that there would be a flight from Knock Airport to Dublin at 7 a.m. and a return flight at 7 p.m. each day, which would take approximately one hour. It is an excellent idea because Knock Airport is probably the best regional airport in the country. It has two services each day across the Channel, one to London and one to the British midlands. The one disadvantage was that it did not have a service to the capital but that was put right.

I acknowledge the role played by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke. We lobbied her strongly to seek EU permission for the public service subvention to establish this flight because an operator would not take the risk of establishing the service on a daily basis and then making losses for two or three years before making a profit.

What has been delivered has fallen far short of the contract the company signed with the Department of Public Enterprise. It honoured its part of the bargain to provide the subvention. I am not sure of the figures because they have been difficult to obtain but more than 30% of the scheduled flights have been cancelled without notice. I turned up at Knock Airport on three occasions at 6.30 a.m. to get the 7 a.m. flight to Dublin but I was told at the last minute that the flight was cancelled. There was no good reason that the aircraft was not able to take off or land. Knock Airport has category one instrument landing equipment which means all modern airlines can land and take off in adverse weather conditions.

The company is reluctant to give answers to the questions put to it about the service or the cancellations. However, we are entitled to answers because public money is involved. If the company which has this contract is not willing or is unable to honour the terms of the contract, it must be given to someone else. What negotiations, if any, has the Minister or her officials had with the company operating the flight? Has any reason been given by the company for the cancellations? What plans does the company have, if it intends to continue with the contract, for improving the service? I understand the contract allows it to have a cancellation rate of 2% in any operating year. I may be overstating or understating the facts, but at least 25% of the scheduled flights have been cancelled.

This issue is damaging to Knock Airport which has been a wonderful development in the west. It is one of the most essential elements of the transport infrastructure in the region. Every summer it brings in thousands of tourists from locations in Germany, Switzerland and other places. There was a weekly service to Amsterdam last summer and this will be expanded this summer with the provision of chartered flights on a weekly basis which will start in May and end in October. The one essential element which is needed is a daily link with the capital. One of the problems experienced by Waterford Airport was that it lost its link with the capital, which can be a fatal blow to a small regional airport.

I compliment the Minister for Public Enterprise, although I am a member of the Opposition and I could say otherwise. I had much correspondence with her, as I am sure had the Minister of State who is a Deputy for the constituency of Mayo. We all support the airport at Knock. We were lobbied to seek the public service subvention for the service which was granted. The EU had to be convinced that the Government could pay it and I have no doubt that involved difficult negotiations. The public service subvention was put in place, advertisements were placed for the contract and when this company tendered for it, it was granted it. We hoped and expected the contract would be fully delivered but, unfortunately, it was not.

Does the company have enough airplanes to carry out the service? Do the airplanes have proper navigation equipment on board which will allow them to land in difficult weather conditions? We are often told at the last minute that the weather conditions are not right or there are technical difficulties. Other airlines operate out of Knock Airport on the same days when similar weather conditions prevail and they do not seem to have any trouble taking off or landing.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response to this urgent issue. I do not have any doubt he will agree that the current service is disappointing for the dozens of people who turn up every morning. It appears to run at 75% occupancy every day. I was at Dublin Airport on a Friday evening two weeks ago because I wanted to travel to Knock. However, the service was cancelled at the last minute and there were at least 30 people waiting for it. They were not well treated by the people representing the airline. Information was not dispensed and when a bus was eventually provided to take us home, the journey took four hours. That is not a good service. There is a great sense of community and regional support for the airport which is run on a shoestring. There is much voluntary effort to ensure it stays open. However, it is being damaged by this type of poor service. There is a clear demand for this service to operate every day, yet the operator is not keeping the terms of the contract.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this motion this evening and I look forward to his reply.

Dr. Moffatt

I thank Senator Connor for raising this issue on the Adjournment. Unfortunately, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, cannot be here to take it.

Aer Arann Express holds the contract from the Department of Public Enterprise to provide the Public Service Obligation, PSO, air service between Knock and Dublin and I am aware that certain difficulties have been experienced since the service began on 18 January this year.

Aer Arann is contracted to provide one daily return flight between Knock and Dublin and the PSO specifications for this route required an early morning departure from Knock to Dublin and an evening return from Dublin to Knock. By agreement with Aer Arann and in consultation with the authorities at Knock Airport, the flight schedule provides for a 7 a.m. departure from Knock on weekdays and 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The return flight departure time from Dublin is 7 p.m. In line with the specifications for the Knock PSO service, Aer Arann operates the route with a 36 seater Shorts 360 aircraft. This is similar to the aircraft type used on three of the other PSO routes, namely, Sligo, Donegal and Derry.

For most of the first month of the PSO contract, Aer Arann could not provide the agreed service for early morning departures from Knock. This was due to an industrial dispute at Knock Airport which had nothing to do with the airline. The dispute at the airport between management and employees concerned the level of extra payments for working outside normal airport working hours, something which was needed in order to accommodate the PSO flight schedule. Throughout that dispute, however, Aer Arann provided a midday service to Knock. Following resolution of the industrial dispute at the airport, the normal service, as per the PSO requirements, was provided by Aer Arann from 13 February.

In the 63 day period since the start of the contract up to yesterday, 21 March, Aer Arann operated 60 flights between Knock and Dublin and 57 flights between Dublin and Knock. The majority of the nine flight cancellations in that period were due to adverse weather conditions at Knock Airport. I notice that the Senator was unfortunate to be there on three of these occasions. Most of the instances where delays were experienced in flight schedules were also due to weather factors. Senators will appreciate that passenger safety is a top priority and when weather conditions are below minimum levels, flights must be cancelled, diverted or delayed as the case may be.

The agreed level of subvention for operating the Knock/Dublin PSO route is £4.04 million over the three year period of the contract. This breaks down as £1.27 million for the first year, £1.34 mill ion for the second year and £1.43 million for the third year. These are maximum amounts and the actual level of subvention is established ex-post taking into account the costs and revenues generated by the service.

As regards the permitted level of flight cancellations, the contract provides that except in cases of force majeure concerning weather conditions, closure of the airports, security reasons, strikes and reasons of safety, the number of flights cancelled for reasons directly attributable to the airline shall not exceed 2% of the total number of flights on an annual basis.

While the Knock PSO service got off to a difficult start with the industrial dispute at the airport, Aer Arann informs the Minister that it has invested heavily in the promotion of the service. Local and national newspaper and radio advertising campaigns as well as extensive leaflet drops have been carried out. Aer Arann has also sponsored a number of local events such as the Claremorris football club draw and the company's marketing department is working with a number of local hoteliers to develop flybreak packages to the region.

In order to further stimulate traffic on the Knock route, Aer Arann has introduced a promotional return fare of £50 for all passengers on all flights. This is well below what the airline is entitled to charge under its PSO contract. To date, load factors on the route have been disappointing at just 14% in February and 23% to date in March. The measures which are being taken by Aer Arann to promote greater use of the service should see an improvement in these load factors.

The Department monitors the performance of all the PSO routes. In the event that the disappointing load factors experienced to date in relation to the Knock PSO service do not improve significantly, then my Department would have to review whether, for example, the flight schedule involved is the correct one for that route.

The purpose of a PSO is to provide an air service, on a subsidised basis by the Exchequer, between a regional airport and Dublin in response to a local demand for such a service. If, however, that demand fails to materialise in a meaningful way on any PSO route, the essential rationale for such a PSO would have to be looked at.

Mr. Connor

I thank the Minister for his reply. I do not find it fully satisfactory. I am amazed to find that only nine flights out of 57 were cancelled. I was extraordinarily unlucky. I am not here to make my case; this is the case that has been made to me by many business people in the west who wish to use this flight and lobbied to have it provided. There is a general feeling that it is not satisfactory and it needs to be monitored very closely. If this level of cancellation continues, the whole contract needs to be reviewed.

The Seanad adjourned at 4.15 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 March 2001.