Mr. Evan Cullen:

Yes, but the reality is that the UK Government has not only supported BA, with a £300 million loan, but it has also supported Ryanair - an Irish airline - and EasyJet, to the tune of a £600 million loan. The Spanish Government has underwritten a loan to Iberia and Vueling to the tune of €1 billion, whereas the Irish Government has done nothing. Two Irish airlines, CityJet and Stobart Air, wrote to the Government requesting assistance. I have never seen the reply but, soon afterwards, CityJet went into examinership, while Stobart Air, according to public reports, has considered examinership and other options in the meantime.

Aer Lingus will be liquidated to save the pillar airlines of IAG because the governments of the two jurisdictions, in the UK and Spain, are backing up those airlines. The governments of all the western EU states are supporting their airlines. I have outlined a list of everything from France to Germany and Spain. Italy has nationalised Alitalia and Portugal has effectively nationalised TAP. The list is endless, and Ireland is the outlier, both in terms of the restrictive nature of travel and of the assistance.