Sir, – The letter on freezing the number of corporate jets landing in Dublin airport is full of the usual tropes and begrudgery about corporate jets and what they are used for (Letters, January 15th).
In my experience, those jets cover large distances between corporate locations such as the US, India and Ireland. They also land in Belfast, Derry, Knock and other regional airports so executives can review and applaud their successful sites across Ireland, employing 250,000 people.
They also act as flying boardrooms where key decisions are made or progress reviewed. Many an executive would find it a pretty efficient way to get from A to B as opposed to a solo flight on a scheduled airline.
Our foreign direct investment is the envy of the world because of the talent which we draw from Europeans who want to work in an English-speaking country, our time zone which fits into a global “follow the sun paradigm”, and our tax regime, which we are honest about compared to others who are less transparent.
These jets are getting cleaner, and since Covid, executive travel has reduced significantly, but as an island nation, while we are blessed with an economic success that belies our remoteness, it requires a degree of connectedness to support that success which has insulated us from the ravages of recent global shocks.
One has only to look at our neighbouring island to reflect on what might have been. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’CONNELL,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.