Vol. 517 No. 5
77 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the details of the proposed flights programme for each of the regional airports for the 2000 holiday season; and the airport or origin of each flight and the frequency of flights to each airport. [10267/00]
Under European Union air transport liberalisation measures, any air carrier licensed by a European Economic Area (EEA) Member State, i.e., the 15 member states of the European Union plus Norway and Iceland, may introduce air services on any route within the EEA without any Government or EU controls, subject only to the availability of airport slots at either end of the route and, of course, to overall safety considerations. There is no obligation on carriers to notify the EU member states of the flights which they are operating or propose to operate. As a result, I would not necessarily be aware of every flight entering or leaving Irish airports.
The regional airports are privately owned and managed. The Deputy should contact the airports concerned who should be in a position to supply him with the information he is seeking.
