Ms Rose Hynes:

No. One cannot just do that in the moment. Norwegian Air announced this coming up to the summer. The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded in March of this year. It was hoped that that problem would be solved and kept moving along in that way. As summer approached, Norwegian Air announced that it was pulling out and it was clear that the problem would not be solved. It is hoped that will be solved by the end of the year but there is still no absolute clarity on that. There is a shortage of aircraft as a result. I am confident that we will replace them but it cannot be done overnight. I hope the Boeing 737 MAX will return, since that will assist the situation but there is a shortage overall at present. There is turbulence in the airline market at present, with Thomas Cook going out of business recently. It is quite a difficult time with general uncertainty. It is not just a Shannon or Ireland problem but much is happening with Brexit, local uncertainty and the Boeing 737 MAX, which is a global problem. That is the impact on us. The fact that we had the deal with Norwegian Air and those routes has proven that there is a market for it. I am confident that it will be replaced.

I am always interested in what Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland are doing and how they spend their money. Seasonality and regionality work well and are important to us in the west of Ireland. If one broadens the seasons and does more in the regions, that benefits all of us. Dublin is a tough competitor. Dublin had 95% of all new business coming into Ireland between 2012 and now. That means that of any 1 million passengers, Dublin takes 950,000 and the rest of us take 50,000 between us.

That is tough competition even if there was nothing else going on. There is also general uncertainty, including the issues regarding the 737 MAX jet. We need all of the assistance that we can get and we will take it all. We are completely in favour of balanced regional development and have lobbied hard for it. Such development is crucially important for all of us. We have also lobbied for more marketing support and want Tourism Ireland to market routes to regional airports, which would make a difference. In Project Ireland 2040 there is a lot of talk about how that will operate. We completely support and are aligned with its objectives, such as 75% of new business being outside of Dublin, which is important and crucial. How that is achieved is important. The more supports provided to assist the entire area outside of Dublin the better, and the sooner the better. We have lobbied hard for that. We have also had discussions with Fáilte Ireland on what it can do. The Wild Atlantic Way is a tremendous brand that has been enormously helpful to all of us along the entire west coast and beyond. We are the international airport for the Wild Atlantic Way, so the initiative is very important.

Mr. Cawley mentioned day trippers. Yes, that is a big problem. Dublin has more than it can take at the moment. I am not in any way anti-Dublin when I say so. Dublin is very successful but the rest of us need a chance. The rest of us need as much assistance as we can get. As much as possible needs to be done to drive business into the regions, because Dublin is congested.