Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Impact on Aviation (resumed)

Photo of Cormac DevlinCormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their opening remarks. I note from their opening statements that passenger numbers are almost 99% lower than 2019 levels, which is extremely worrying.

As an island nation we are all acutely aware that connectivity is essential. I acknowledge this pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for the airline industry. Covid-19 will have implications well past the summer. Unfortunately, as the committee heard earlier from the DAA, job losses will be inevitable in Dublin airport in particular. It employs 21,500 people and supports 100,000 other jobs. The air transport sector is estimated to support €8.9 billion of GDP and many jobs in Ireland.

I thank the airlines, their crews and pilots for their work in the initial phase of the pandemic in securing essential medical supplies and bringing them to Ireland. That was much appreciated by the public. I hope they will pass on the committee's thanks and best wishes to the staff involved.

My first question is to Mr. Wilson from Ryanair. Does he think his airline's campaign of encouraging people to travel to countries on the green list undermines the advice being given by the Government and public health advisers in this jurisdiction about avoiding non-essential travel?

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