Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Martin for raising this matter. I am very much aware of the importance of this matter. The interest he has is shared with his constituency colleagues, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, Deputy Jerry Buttimer and Deputy Ciarán Lynch.

Before I comment on the importance of Cork Airport and our plans for it, I emphasise that the market for air services in the European Union is fully liberalised. Any European registered airline is free to operate any service between any two points in the European Union. It is, therefore, a matter for airlines, including Aer Lingus Regional or Stobart Air, to decide what routes they service based on their commercial judgments.

I have no involvement in those decisions. My understanding is that while Stobart will be reducing frequency on some routes, it is also increasing capacity on others or resuming summer services, as all airlines do over the year, depending on seasonality and passenger demand. In particular, the airline will recommence its twice-weekly summer services to Jersey and Rennes from Cork in early June.

The Government is very conscious of the importance of Cork Airport. It is the second largest airport in Ireland and vital for business and tourism in the Cork region. With all this focus on and discussion about declining passenger numbers, let us not forget that it still had more than 2.1 million passengers last year, has 42 scheduled routes and offers passengers excellent connectivity into three major European hub airports. The airport has excellent passenger facilities and provides award-winning customer services.

Notwithstanding all of that, I am also very aware of, and concerned about, the continuing decline in passenger numbers at the airport. Since becoming Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have met with all the stakeholders in regard to Cork Airport on a number of occasions and have engaged extensively with Government bodies in the matter. The DAA and Cork Airport management are working hard to stabilise passenger numbers and restore Cork Airport to growth in the short to medium term. The DAA is actively engaged with existing airline customers, including Stobart, and potential new entrants to help expand traffic at the airport and generate new services. It is crucial that existing and new services are, therefore, supported by the people in Cork and the wider catchment area to ensure their sustainability.

I believe there are also opportunities to increase the number of incoming tourists in the Cork region, particularly in view of the fact that only 37% of Cork Airport's passengers are inbound, which is quite low by international standards. I have engaged with Tourism Ireland, which has undertaken significant co-operative marketing activity with carriers serving Cork Airport to promote flights to Cork and boost travel to the wider regions. East Cork will also be promoted as part of the new tourism proposition for the south and east of Ireland, Ireland's Ancient East. Cork city and airport now have the opportunity to act as a gateway to both Ireland's Ancient East and the Wild Atlantic Way.

Ultimately, creating new services and growing inbound tourism depends not just on the availability of competitive access but also on ensuring that potential visitors have a reason to visit. I urge everybody to work together to develop these products in the Munster region, not just around the airport. The stakeholders, along with the airport and the tourism agencies, will then be better able to pursue every opportunity to develop and highlight those products. It is only by working together that the objective of ensuring a sustainable airport that is able to grow in the future can be achieved for the benefit of the region, the city and the county.

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