Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have one question relating to figures. I may be overlapping here so forgive me. The witness referred in one of his letters to further important examples where more than 15,000 passengers currently connect via Manchester, Gatwick or Heathrow each year from Dublin, with effective competition between British Airways and another carrier on the long-haul route of San Francisco-Vancouver-Hong Kong. My original premise was that one of the attractions of the IAG proposal is that it would grow passenger numbers out of Dublin into the Irish economy.

Mr. Thompson addressed that in terms of economies of scale relating to Heathrow and Dublin airports, but I am sure he would agree that any increase into Dublin would be of benefit to the Irish economy.

Does Mr. Thompson have any figures for inward passengers using Virgin Atlantic's transatlantic service? He cited a figure of 15,000 which, I presume, means outward. Does he have any way of assessing whether there is any added value to the Irish economy via connectivity by Irish consumers going through those three airports and using his services? Extracting the 15,000 outward, does Mr. Thompson have any inward figures for people using it in reverse, that is, Virgin Atlantic using the onward connections by Aer Lingus into Ireland? Is it part of Virgin Atlantic's remit, as a commercial organisation, to actively encourage tourist numbers? For example, does Virgin Atlantic work with British Tourism or Fáilte Ireland in providing attractive packages for its international passengers to visit the UK and, by extension, Ireland?

In recent years, the Irish Government has been successfully attempting to attract Far Eastern customers. As Mr. Thompson will be aware, until recently, someone using long-haul services in the Far East or Middle East who wanted to tour Europe could get a visa for the UK but not one to come to Ireland. In the main, however, they can do so now. That must be of some benefit to Virgin Atlantic because it means it is providing an attractive option, primarily for the tourist market but also for business passengers.

Keeping in mind that Virgin Atlantic is providing an alternative option for consumers, I am trying to establish if there are any advantages to the Irish economy by the airline's continuing use of this service and its connection with Aer Lingus.