THE GOVERNMENT should review the former administration’s decision to cut back on State support for regional airports, according to a Western Development Commission report.
The policy document, published yesterday, says that the western region needs better air connections if its companies and tourism industry are not to remain at a competitive disadvantage.
In January, former minister for transport Noel Dempsey said the government would support only one public-service-obligation route to a regional airport, the Donegal-Dublin route, after July.
Public service routes are so called because they are not provided commercially and are considered vital for regional economic development.
Airlines are invited to tender for them each time the contract is due for renewal.
The current contract, due to expire in July, costs €45 million and connects Sligo, Donegal, Ireland West at Knock, Co Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Derry airports with Dublin.
The Department of Transport’s value-for-money review published in January also recommended curtailing operational and capital supports to the Sligo and Galway airports.
The policy document notes that there are currently 165 such State-supported routes across 12 European Union member states.
New public service contracts must adhere to stricter EU guidelines. However, it notes that many parts of the western region are more than three hours by rail from the capital,.
It also notes that most of counties Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and parts of Roscommon and Galway are “inaccessible” with a “greater than two-hour drive time” to State airports.
These “inaccessible” areas include the National Spatial Strategy gateway of Sligo.
They also include the twinned hubs of Castlebar and Ballina, in Co Mayo, which are key urban centres in the west and northwest, it says.
“Instead of policies which funnel international air access through the State airports, and in particular through Dublin airport, direct international air access to and from the the west’s regional airports needs to be maximised to drive enterprise and tourism, as well as making the most of this infrastructure,” Western Development Commission policy analyst Deirdre Frost said.
“The European Commission recognises the role that regional airports play in integrating peripheral parts of Europe and, in support of this, permits state aid for route development from small regional airports,” Ms Frost added.Poor international air access has contributed to a decline in tourism.
“The development commission believes that these EU aid guidelines should be examined to determine how they might support direct international air access from western region airports.”