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THE GOVERNMENT HAS agreed an €80 million support package for the aviation sector, as Irish airports fight for survival as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The cash injection announced today represents an additional €48 million on that which was announced in the Budget last month.
The new supports include €22 million in additional funding for Cork and Shannon Airport and an extra €21 million for the Regional Airports Programme, which will benefit Knock, Kerry and Donegal airports.
The funding package will also include an Airport Charges Rebate Scheme to run from January to March that the Department of Transport says is subject to State Aid approval from the EU Commission.
That scheme benefits all Irish airports, including Dublin Airport, to the tune of €20 million.
The rebate scheme was among the recommendations made by the Task Force for Aviation Recovery. The task force had previously warned that Ireland’s aviation industry ‘will not survive’ the Covid-19 pandemic if travel advice is not changed.
Announcing the additional funding today, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that the government is “fully alert to the devastating impact of the global pandemic” on the aviation industry.
“It is expected that it may be some time before it is possible to permit a large scale return to air travel, but we remain committed to ensuring that the aviation sector can maintain the necessary core capability to retain strategic connectivity and to quickly rebound when circumstances allow,” he said.
I welcome the fact that the Government today approved this department’s proposal for an additional €48 m funding for the sector, focusing in particular on Cork and Shannon and our smaller regional airports which are important contributors to the economics of their regions.
Ryanair gave a cautious welcome to the announcement. A spokesperson said:
“Three months of rebates does not go far enough. We urge Minister Ryan to adopt the Aviation Task Force recommendation to fund airport rebates for a period of three years.
Over 325,000 people are employed in the Irish Tourism industry and depend on airlines to deliver customers. If our Aviation and Tourism industries are to have any chance of rebounding to pre-Covid levels, then a structural package of incentives is required over three years – not three months – to support this industry on which so many people depend for their livelihoods.
The EU’s traffic light system for international travel came into effect in Ireland on Sunday.
It is hoped the plan will jump start the aviation sector by waiving the requirement to restrict movements if someone has had a negative Covid-19 test or has arrived from a ‘Green’ country on the list.
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Why would airlines operate flights at a loss and the airports get state aid? Surely the incentive should be to the airlines too?
@Peter O Donnell: You’d think that logically. If the airlines had an incentive to fly then the airports wouldn’t need funding…. More logical decision making made here by Eamonn Ryan. Better than nothing I guess though.
@Peter O Donnell: Simple. Planes lose more money not flying than flying….
What pandemic.? Surely a pandemic suggests a massive rise in mortality rates.? So far in 2020 the monthly mortality rates compared to the same month of the 5 previous years, with the exception of April when our government threw the elderly to the wolves is lower.
@John Brendan Mullen: boring!
@John Brendan Mullen: thanks doctor.
@John Brendan Mullen: oh and check the news before you post. Italy records its highest daily deaths since April.
@Wreck Tangle: you define pandemic for us all please. I’m curious about your definition.
@Paul Furey: as opposed to what .? Summer months always have lower mortality rates than winter.
@Paul Furey: ye don’t have to be a doctor to know that “pandemic” is accompanied by a massive spike in mortality rates. That’s not the case in 2020. Ireland actually has lower monthly mortality rates compared to the same month of the previous 5 years. Panicdemic more like
@Paul Furey: duh.
@Wreck Tangle: yeah, you wouldn’t want anything as boring as the truth get in the way of a good story.
@John Brendan Mullen: “A pandemic (from Greek πᾶν, pan, “all” and δῆμος, demos, “people”) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people. ” (…..hint….worldwide….)
@John Brendan Mullen: the lockdown worked and sheltered people like yourself from reality.
@John Brendan Mullen:
Why are the comments closed on the Healy Rea/deleany story. Surely can’t be for legal reasons
@ChuckE: you know why!!! Just think how many comments they would have to delete.
They would be better off building housing and looking after people with that money were is all the profit airlines have made over the years
@Pauline Cahill: you’re ok with the airlines folding, reducing in size and jobs being lost?
@Pauline Cahill: where are all the profits that pubs and other businesses have made over the years gone? The exact same place as airlines profits due to govt restrictions.
@Pauline Cahill: shareholders dividends
Wonder what Shannon will get as they have been ran into the ground by all governments..
Pity as with The present one and the Greens the traffic and the congestion etc to use Dublin is a bug of mine let alone the cost of Aviation Fuel to fly over Shannon personally does not make sense forgetting the passengers are from the whole country not just Dublin ..
@Sportmad: Airlines determine the routes they fly based on where the market is and where they can make money. Shannon cost Aer Lingus a fortune with their Boeing 707s and 747s from the 60s to the 80s. The fleet had double the amount of take off and landing cycles as their peers and with a full base due to the enforced Shannon Stopover. Madness! And who remembers being stuck in Shannon Airport at 4am for 90 mins while trying to get back to Dublin from the US. Having said all of this what could the government do for Shannon that would not cost the state a fortune and would benefit the country.
@Paul Furey: fair points but the fact remains that Dublin and Cork has been given a big advantage by Government in the funding it receives and as all are owned by the Government why is there a seperate Authority for Shannon..
Dublin and cork nearly 1bn in revenue 2019 and with snn just 24 m
There is a massive disparity in that
counties outside the pale and rebel county a fair share and then see
We have to travel to and from Dublin from west and its much easier now not 4hrs but yes 2hrs have you ever stayed outside dublin or used tge region’s airports doubt it.. but yet we must go to Dublin i have used ever Airport in this country and region ones best..
Dublin is a nightmare
Give the cash to not just snn but kerry and Galway the others are ok with those profits others not..
Rant over
What about all the profits and grants the DAA received over the years. What about DAA staff who took pay cuts? The media should look into ERIC and see how the DAA broke it’s promise to staff regarding it.
Chicken feed to be fair.
If I had a choice support our airports or the media I would back our airport’s
So about the same price as a prawn sandwich and a Coke.
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