Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Willie Walsh was before the committee a couple of weeks ago. Mr. O'Leary struck a very similar theme in his presentation in the context of Dublin. It will be no surprise to Mr. O'Leary, given I am from Cork, that I will raise an issue with his presentation in the context of Cork, Shannon and other regional airports. What can the committee do to broaden the appeal of airports such as Cork and Shannon? I take Mr. O'Leary's point that one cannot artificially take the 60% of the inbound flying population. I know Mr. O'Leary is in negotiations with Cork Airport about a new deal having had conversations with him. I hope that goes well and he brings the third aircraft back for summer and winter of next year. I know this is a simplistic approach but I will take Reus as an example. Ryanair flies to Reus and Aer Lingus has abandoned Cork to Barcelona. Vueling may look at that route in the same way KLM did with Aer Lingus's Amsterdam route out of Cork. I will only ask the question in the context of Barcelona which is a major city with a population coming back as well as going out. Is there a reason Ryanair would not fly to Barcelona's main airport rather than Reus?