This article is from page 4 of the 2007-10-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Atlantic Connectivity Alliance (ACA) has expressed outrage over Transport Minister Noel Dempsey’s decision to tell Government’s repre- sentatives on the Board of Aer Lin- gus to block the transfer of Heathrow slots out of Cork and Dublin airports but not Shannon.
“The Atlantic Connectivity Alli- ance is outraged by a completely dis- criminatory decision by the minister.
We welcome that Dublin or Cork would not have to endure what this region is now faced with but the min- ister’s commitment to these airports’ future 1s hypocritical in the context of inaction on Shannon. It is an ad- mission of failure in relation to Gov- ernment’s handling of the Shannon issue at the same time,’ said ACA Vice Chairperson Ken Sullivan.
The Alliance say that the move is an acceptance on the part of the Gov- ernment that “it can intervene, that it
should intervene and is ready to in- tervene but on behalf of Dublin and Cork, which we welcome, but not Shannon. If the Minister can order Government representatives on the board of Aer Lingus to do this for Cork and Dublin, then he can and should do it for Shannon.”
The ACA says that they have high- lighted the “real threat that is now exposed to our sister regions. Es- sentially, what the Government is proposing to do is protect Cork and
Dublin and leave our region, which accounts for 20 per cent of the GDP, without any connectivity to the world’s most important airport hub and immediate onward access to key international markets.”
The ACA’s attack on the minis- ter’s decision came after it was an- nounced that British carrier BMI had walked away from negotiations with the Shannon Airport management to fly between Shannon and Heathrow.
Shannon management said _ that “British Midlands has stated it is not in a position over the coming months to commit resources to take up the very generous incentives on the Shannon-Heathrow route offered by management at Shannon Airport.”
“Shannon Airport accepts it is now highly unlikely that an alternative Shannon-Heathrow service will be secured by next January”.
The statement stressed that airport management was keeping lines of communication open with British Midlands in anticipation that it may revisit this decision in 2008.