Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress that has been made to date in improving air access to Ireland from North America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47551/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Air access between Ireland and North American is crucially important for trade and tourism. In this regard, there have recently been two important announcements. As part of a recent tourism mission to North America to promote the Gathering, I met with United Airlines in Chicago and a new Chicago-Shannon route has been confirmed for next summer.  In addition, American Airlines recently announced that it is to begin a new daily service from Dublin to New York JFK from June 2013 in addition to its existing Dublin-Chicago route which operates six times a week.  These are very positive developments and discussions are continuing with a number of other carriers for additional capacity linked to both general traffic demand and the expected increased traffic linked to the Gathering.

Current indications are that transatlantic capacity for summer 2013 will be higher than summer 2012, which was in the region of 27,500 seats per week. Tourism Ireland continues to work closely with Dublin Airport Authority to secure additional capacity.