Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The negative impact from a connectivity point of view almost completely relates to one-stop connectivity and flight duration to key destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia, as such destinations must generally be accessed through a major hub. This has obvious adverse effects in terms of business travellers and other users from the Shannon region. However, the senior officials group confirms there should be little impact on connectivity with destinations in the Americas as the best route is as likely to be through one of the US hubs served directly from Shannon.

These services are enhanced when one takes into account the link up by Aer Lingus with the US carrier, Jet Blue, which makes possible access to and from Shannon to 50 airports in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. This is in addition to the new direct services being provided under the "Open Skies" arrangements. In the case of European origins/destinations, the analysis found that there is no loss of one-stop connectivity but travel via Heathrow was found in general to be faster.

The senior officials group also notes that counties in the wider mid-west region, and along the western seaboard in particular, continue to be well served by air services at the State airports in Shannon and Cork and also at the regional airports in Kerry, Galway, Sligo and Knock.

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