Knock Airport at risk after flights cut

Knock Airport at risk after flights cut


Rowan Gallagher

IRELAND West Airport Knock is being put at risk of losing sustainability after it was announced last week that the Mayo to Dublin flights that run daily would be axed because of the Government decision to axe PSO funding to the airport.
The service is due to be cut in July 2011 and is run by Aer Arann which runs two flights daily from Mayo to Dublin and one from Dublin to Mayo. The cut in funding is expected to have a serious affect on the profitability of the already struggling Aer Arann airline as well as cutting approximately 3 per cent of the traffic from Mayo’s only airport.
Passenger numbers for Knock airport reached 600,000 last year but are now expected to drop with the cessation of the flights to the capital.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has come out and said that the route will still be open to commercial airlines but it is not believed that any will attempt to run a service as it has long been known to be unprofitable without Government funding.
“Alternatives to air services, specifically travel by rail and road, have greatly improved since the Regional Airports Programme began, particularly with Government investment under Transport 21 in recent years. It must also be borne in mind that there are many demands on the Department of Transport and trying to maintain a level of expenditure on the Regional Airports Programme which is no longer sustainable would impact negatively on other areas such as public transport provision and road maintenance,” the Minister said.
“I envisage that implementation of the recommendations of the Value for Money Review will result in the appropriate use of scarce Exchequer resources in a more focused way to secure an adequate network of regional airports serving the Irish public, both in terms of business and tourism.
“Where a PSO route is being terminated from mid July 2011, the route will be open to commercial air services from that date. Overall, I believe that the combination of an improved surface transport network together with a more consolidated air service network to regional airports, along with the State Airports at Cork, Shannon and Dublin, provides the necessary transport access to underpin Ireland’s sustainable development,” Minister Dempsey stated after the announcement.
The Department of Transport has been heavily condemned by smaller regional airports for not cutting the state support to airports in Shannon, Dublin and Cork - all three of which are the biggest strain on the exchequer.
In 2009 Chairman of Ireland West Airport, Liam Scollan after the first batch of cuts to the airport stated that he found it incredible that a report charged with recommending cuts in public expenditure ignores the largest beneficiaries of State support when it comes to aviation - the three state airports.
Dr Jerry Cowley, General Election candidate for Mayo said that with the recent news of the cut in PSO funding that there needs to be alternative investment in Ireland West Airport to reach it’s potential.
“With the Government deciding to cease  the PSO (Public Service Obligation) route between Knock and Dublin airports from  July  2011 it is only right that they look at increasing the measly 50,000 euro marketing grant given to Ireland West Airport through Failte Ireland annually to promote its routes.  In fact this grant of 50,000 euro or thereabouts pales into insignificance compared to the annual marketing grant of 7.5 million euro given to Shannon airport  to promote themselves,” Dr Cowley concluded.
Fine Gael spokesperson for social protection, Michael Ring, accused the government of trying to pass of saving money in the short term as a new aviation strategy.
“Fine Gael was, and is, willing to engage in a constructive assessment of regional airports to achieve better value for money. However, Noel Dempsey’s hammer-blow to Sligo, Knock, Galway and Derry airports is a crude cutback which is more about saving money, than putting in place a new regional airport strategy.
“Minister Dempsey’s decision makes a mockery of every Government pledge to protect jobs, transport links and develop local economies. Regional airports have played a crucial role in local development, and their loss will have a serious impact,” Deputy Ring concluded.