Mr. Eddie Wilson:

Looking at Cork and Shannon, I would say that the mood among our staff is utterly despondent as to what is going on and how it was allowed to happen without any intervention. We have more than 80 locations throughout Europe where our aircraft are based, similar to Cork and Shannon, and we must make commercial decisions about all of them. This limping along is not going to do anything for anybody. Life will be difficult enough as Europe works its ways through the current spike of infections and until confidence returns at some point with the introduction of a vaccine. It is hard to get across how truly extraordinary it is that this country - an island nation that needs air connectivity more than most - instead of leading the pack in seeking to bring aviation back in a more expedited way, is actually at the bottom of the class in this regard. I really do not understand it, especially when the answer is on the Minister's desk. That solution would give us a fighting chance. In its absence, things are going to get a lot of worse before they get better and I really fear for our tourism sector next summer. If there are no aircraft coming into the country, there will be nobody coming here to fill the hotel rooms and visit the attractions. We are making our decisions with that prospect in view and the Government needs to get to grips with it. No other airlines are coming in. Operators throughout Europe are getting much smaller and airports already realise they need to attract people for next summer. Other countries are working on that but nothing is being done here in Ireland. It is a shame.