With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 together.
The Shannon-Dublin air service was introduced by Aer Lingus in 1966 at the request of the then Minister for Transport and Power. This was done to improve the service to and from Dublin for passengers of other transatlantic airlines serving Shannon. No commitment to provide or maintain the service was sought or given and the provision of the service is not a condition of the bilateral air services agreement between the two countries.
Aer Lingus indicated in December, 1970 that they wished to discontinue the service because of heavy losses on it. The Aer Lingus estimates showed that the estimated loss on the operation of the service, taking only direct costs into account, would amount to £43,000 for the summer of 1971. The aircraft, if employed on other more profitable routes, would make a surplus of £100,000 on operating costs and make a substantial contribution to overheads and could be expected to bring in a worthwhile quota of tourist business. Figures as to the actual user of the service and other relevant information were sought but were not then readily available.
Aer Lingus was not in a position to produce actual figures at the time. It was not until March, 1971 that all the relevant information had been extracted. The user of the service estimated by Aer Lingus amounted to-only 4.3 per cent of the passengers carried to and from Shannon by the American airlines in 1970. The US Airlines were unable to provide comparable statistics. This meant that the service was being operated at a loss of approximately £75 per transatlantic passenger carried between Dublin and Shannon. The information also indicated that the user of the service was diminishing steeply. As between 1969 and 1970, the user dropped from 7.2 per cent in 1969 to 4.3 per cent in 1970.
In terms of passengers per flight the figures were 10 in 1969 and 8.5 in 1970, while the Aer Lingus forward bookings for 1971 indicated an average of 3.6 per flight.
When the necessary information to enable a decision to be taken was available in late March, 1971, the matter was submitted to Government. Following the decision of the Government Aer Lingus were informed on the 2nd April, 1971, of agreement to the discontinuance of the service.
Representations in the matter have been received from the Ambassador of the United States of America to Ireland, from Transworld Airlines and from Bord Fáilte. The Ambassador discussed with the Minister for Transport and Power the problems arising for US passengers already booked on the service. The other representations were on similar lines—namely, that the US airlines and US travel trade are already committed this summer to passengers booked on this service. The estimates now furnished to the Department of Transport and Power by TWA of the number of passengers who used the service in 1970 and expected to use the service in 1971 differ very substantially from the estimates of Aer Lingus. It is not possible at this stage to reconcile these differences and I have, therefore, decided in deference to the representations made that the service should be maintained for the coming summer. During the summer accurate checks will be made to establish precisely the extent to which the service is being used and the whole question will then be re-examined.