Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
National Aviation Policy: Aer Lingus (Resumed)
Ms Lynne Embleton:
I will make a comment and then pass to Mr. Moriarty. As I have said previously, a hub cannot be split but regional demand can be created for point-to-point flying. What we see in our passenger profile is a lot of inbound tourism into Ireland. If we are looking to develop the west, we need to make it attractive. We need to create the market and have passengers who want to come into Ireland and the west coast. I come back to the point that if we can create the market, we can provide the flying, notwithstanding the near-term fleet restrictions we have as a consequence of Covid. We need to work together to create that market. There is outbound travel from the local population, but we need to recognise the importance of inbound tourism. The more we can promote the more we will be able to fill aircraft coming in.
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