Vol. 405 No. 1
21 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, following the decision of British Airways to withdraw its services from Irish routes, he intends to have any discussions with the British authorities regarding the reallocation of take off and landing slots to Aer Lingus to ensure that the Irish tourist industry does not suffer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
31 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if, following the recent announcement by British Airways of the withdrawal of flights from Ireland, he will outline his views on whether this will have a serious effect for the tourist industry in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 31 together.
I was very disappointed at the decision of British Airways to withdraw from the Irish market with effect from 24 March 1991, having served Ireland for 44 years. When the decision was announced, I contacted Bord Fáilte, Aer Lingus and Ryanair to assess the impact of the withdrawal and particularly its implications for Irish tourism. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have indicated to me that they have adequate capacity to fill the gap created by the British Airways withdrawal and will provide extra flights as necessary. In addition, British Midland have indicated that they have the capacity to attract additional traffic on the Dublin/Heathrow route.
In relation to the impact of the British Airways withdrawal on tourists travelling to Ireland from the US, Bord Fáilte is, at my request, having discussions with the airline to ensure that British Airways continue to market Ireland in the US. In addition, I have personally contacted a number of North American airlines about their extending existing services or inaugurating new services to Ireland.
For visitors travelling to Ireland from Australia and the Far East, British Airways have in recent years been commonrating fares to Dublin with those to other points in Europe. In response to a request from me, Aer Lingus have been having discussions with a number of other carriers serving the Far East and Australia about their adopting similar commonrating arrangements and, so far, Signapore Airlines have agreed to do this.
As a result of the measures taken to date and the general plans for the development of Irish tourism, I am confident that the withdrawal of British Airways from the Irish market will not impede the development of Irish tourism.
