Fine Gael has described Ryanair's decision to suspend flights to and from Knock Airport from next month as "disastrous for the west".
The Government should meet its stated commitment to the region by bailing out the airport, the Fine Gael TD for Mayo, Mr Enda Kenny, said last night. Ryanair said yesterday it was suspending flights on the London-Knock route from January 11th in response to Knock's decision to levy a £6 fee on passengers from January 17th.
The move is the latest blow to the airport, which has already lost an estimated £800,000 this year due to the abolition of duty-free sales. The £6 passenger levy was designed to make up for the lost revenue, which represents some 75 per cent of the airport's income, according to the board.
Last night, the airport manager, Mr Michael McGrath, said it was facing a "very critical situation", and had considered all options, including closure.
Mr Kenny, a former tourism minister, said Ryanair had kept Knock Airport going for many years when the national airline, Aer Lingus, would not serve it.
"The problem is that this Government is not seriously interested in developing this international airport, which is in the centre of the Objective One Border, Midlands and Western region," Mr Kenny said.
During his term in tourism in the previous administration, Mr Kenny secured an amendment to the 1997 Finance Act which classified 200 acres at the airport as an enterprise zone with appropriate tax incentives, and he also courted potential investors. "This administration has not built on that," he said.
Ryanair is the main customer for the airport, which opened 14 years ago. The airline has been flying in and out of Knock since 1985, with arrivals on the London route reaching 80,000 this year. The chief executive of Ryanair, Mr Michael O'Leary, said that suspension of flights was temporary, while the levy remained in place, but warned that if it was not removed it would "put an end to low-fare access to the west of Ireland."
"Aer Lingus recently ended its flights to Knock as a result of their unprofitability," Mr O'Leary said. "Ryanair will not agree to our passengers being harassed for payment of this unjustifiable fee."
Mr McGrath said the airport board would consider the Ryanair decision in the next week. Galway and Kerry airports applied a £5 departure fee on each passenger on their scheduled domestic services, he said.
Mr McGrath described the recent loss of duty-free as a major revenue blow. "We have to recover the costs from somewhere."
Duty-free sales accounted for 75 per cent of the airport's annual income in recent years. The annual out-goings of the airport are about £1.2 million, around half of which is accounted for by wages.
With a projected 105,000 passengers arriving at Knock next year, the expected level of income generated by the £6 departure fee will be about £600,000.
In an effort to deflect expected criticism of the new charges, the Knock Airport board's statement emphasised there was no profit motivation as all shares in the company were invested in a trust for the people of Connacht, and of Co Mayo in particular.
No dividends were paid to shareholders nor was there any remuneration paid to directors, the statement pointed out.
Mr McGrath said the abolition of the £5 travel tax in the Budget meant that in real terms, passengers out of Knock would only be paying £1 extra when the departure charge was implemented.
