David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 1436: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to any negotiations underway to establish a direct airline route form Dublin to Beijing with a view to bringing more tourists from China to here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19326/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has a bilateral air transport agreement with China; the agreement was signed in 1998 and provides the basis on which air services between the two countries can be operated. It is open to any Irish, EU or Chinese airline to operate services between the two countries under the terms of the agreement and I would very much welcome any such initiative. The Dublin Airport Authority and Tourism Ireland regularly engage with airlines both in Ireland and internationally in relation to the development of new routes to/from Ireland. Any decision to operate services between Ireland and China would ultimately be a commercial matter for any of the airlines that are interested in operating in this market.