My Department's policy is to actively encourage and facilitate as wide a range as possible of reliable, regular and competitive commercial air services to meet the needs of Irish tourism, trade and industry. The free market established within the European Economic Area, EEA, provides the framework for achieving this objective. All licensed EEA air carriers are essentially free to provide services on any national or international routes within the EEA with no controls on access to networks or on the capacity or fares that can be offered.
The decision as to whether an airline wishes to exercise its right to operate on a particular route is, however, essentially a matter for the airline concerned to decide on the basis of market forces and its own commercial judgment.