Mr. Willie Walsh:

That is a good comment, provided that there is certainty after the six-week lead-in period that things will start again. What will kill the industry completely is if we have this reopening and closing of borders again. The damage that is being done is very significant. The real challenge that airlines face, and this is particularly true of Aer Lingus, is that the significant cash burn it faces will actually increase as the airline starts to get back up and running again. One has a combination of costs that it is not currently incurring such as fuel, airport and en routecharges that will now become payable at the same time as the airline is waiting for the revenue stream from bookings to come into place. For many airlines, the most challenging period is not what we have come through but it is what we are facing. Part of that will be the risk associated with getting going too fast.

I am aware that the Deputy did not ask me a question about the financial support for Aer Lingus but please allow me to comment on that. Any company taking out a loan will have to assess the conditions associated with that loan, not just the financial conditions but all of the other red tape, and then satisfy itself that it makes sense. One can put all of the conditions that one likes but that does not mean that the loan will be accepted nor does it mean that one has a strong card to play. What one has to do, and I am sure this is what the management team at Aer Lingus is looking at, is to provide certainty that if Aer Lingus starts operating on the transatlantic routes again, it will be able to continue to do so because the costs associated with ramping up a transatlantic operation are massive. It is in that period that the greatest risk is being taken. If I was looking at additional debt being taken on by the airline I would be very careful about the conditions associated with that because the balance sheet has been significantly stressed and the debt that has been taken on has to be repaid. For that debt to be repaid, the airline will have to be profitable. One cannot impose non-commercial restrictive covenants on an airline and hope that it will be in a position to repay the debt.

One needs to be very careful. I do not see how Aer Lingus can sensibly guarantee the operation of a Shannon transatlantic base, given that the summer season has, yet again, been effectively lost, with the very significant seasonality associated with the transatlantic operation into Shannon. I agree with the Deputy that it is very sad to see it and it is terrible for everybody involved. These decisions are not taken lightly by airline management. Many of these decisions have been forced upon them because of the financial crisis that they face at the moment.