Vol. 487 No. 7
151 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Defence the objections, if any, he has to Baldonnel Aerodrome being used by commercial airlines, in view of the low usage of the facility by the Air Corps and the necessity to facilitate the public and to alleviate traffic congestion in the Dublin area. [5130/98]
The position is that the previous Government decided that the provision of a second commercial airport in the Dublin area would not be in the interests of the aviation sector and the economy generally and nothing has happened in the interim which would warrant a change in that decision. Casement Aerodrome is the main military airbase in the State and as long as the bulk of military flying operations are conducted there, in particular basic flying training flights, the base could not be considered suitable for use as a commercial airport with scheduled services.
