Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Enhanced air access to key business and tourism markets around the world has always been a key element of Ireland's aviation policy. A direct service between Ireland and Asia, particularly to and from China, would be of huge benefit to our trade relations with key Asian economies and for inbound tourism. Our export trade to China alone is worth around €3.8 billion, with an import figure of €2.1 billion, and a direct air link would act as a stimulus to further growth in this area. Ireland has bilateral air transport agreements with a number of Asian countries, including China, India, Malaysia and Singapore. These agreements provide the legal framework for scheduled air services between Ireland and these countries. However, while these agreements have been in place for quite some time, there has been very little interest from the airlines in direct services.

Under our agreement with China, it is open to any Irish, EU or Chinese airline to operate services between the two countries. The establishment of such a service, however, has to be market driven; ultimately, therefore, it is a commercial decision for the airlines entitled to operate routes under the agreement. Most of our airports and Tourism Ireland have attractive incentives and co-operative marketing programmes available to encourage airlines to develop new services and help support new services and routes once they are up and running. The Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, recently signed a twinning agreement with Beijing Capital International Airport which will allow the two companies to co-operate to further commercial and tourism links between the two cities. The agreement is also designed to enable the two airports to engage in a joint marketing initiative to deliver direct airline services between Dublin and Beijing.

While we do not yet have direct air links to Asia, Ireland has extensive one-stop connectivity with most major cities in Asia through established European hubs such as Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt airports. Connectivity with Asia has been further enhanced in recent years with direct services from Dublin to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines, the commencement of Etihad services to Abu Dhabi in 2007 which run ten times a week and, more recently, daily Emirates services to Dubai, all offering one-stop connectivity to a large number of points in Asia through their respective hubs.

As mentioned, aviation is a key enabler of economic growth. It is important, therefore, that there is a clear policy framework in place to facilitate its continued development and optimise the contribution the sector can make to the economy. As a first step in the process to develop a new national aviation policy, my Department and the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, hosted a conference on 3 December 2012 in the National Convention Centre to hear the views of stakeholders and start the debate on the issue. Taking account of the issues raised at the conference, an issues paper was published on my Department's website in February 2013. The paper poses a number of questions and covers eight broad areas: airports; air services; regulation and governance; aircraft leasing and finance; aerospace, education and training; general aviation; and sustainability. A total of 74 submissions were received in response to the consultation from a wide range of interests. The number and quality of the submissions received are very encouraging and demonstrate the strong interest there is in shaping future aviation policy in Ireland. The submissions are being reviewed and the intention is that a draft national aviation policy statement will be issued before the end of the year which will provide a further opportunity for stakeholder input before the adoption of the new policy document in early 2014.

The importance of connectivity generally is highlighted in a number of the submissions and the importance of direct services to Asia is also raised. The Ireland China Association made a submission highlighting the benefits which could follow from services to China. My Department and I will continue to work closely with the airport authorities, airlines and tourism agencies to encourage the development of direct air links with Asia. The intention behind developing the new aviation policy is to provide a clear framework for the expansion of the sector and, in particular, improving our international connectivity. However, decisions on individual air routes will be made on a commercial basis by the airlines in question which must be confident they will be able to sell a sufficient number of seats at a sufficient price to cover their costs and make a profit.

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