Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

Aer Lingus only operates two direct flights to the US. In his reply to an earlier question, the Minister stated that Aer Lingus hopes to increase its flights to the US but that these flights would only operate from Dublin Airport. He did not mention Shannon Airport. Aer Lingus operates one flight to Boston four days a week and one flight to Heathrow Airport. These are the only direct services to the US which it operates out of Shannon Airport. There has been a considerable erosion in Aer Lingus's commitment to Shannon Airport in the past few years. In addition, why has Aer Lingus not appointed a manager in Shannon Airport?

Is Aer Lingus not flying in the face of other carriers which have increased their capacity out of Shannon Airport? These airlines are very happy with business in the airport yet our national airline is cutting services every day. Why have no new services operating out of Shannon Airport been introduced since the events of 11 September 2001? What will happen in a post-open skies sector? Most importantly, why has Aer Lingus not signed an agreement with the Shannon Airport Authority regarding transatlantic services after the introduction of the open skies policy when other airlines have no problem signing such an agreement with the authority?

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