Shannon stopover an 'act of national sabotage'

AIR POLICY: The continuation of the Shannon stopover is "an act of national sabotage", the chairman of the Dublin Chamber Transport Committee has said. Mr Maurice Pratt told the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) that the stopover must go.

"I don't believe that any Irish government could engage in an act of national sabotage indefinitely and the proper way to react now to the inevitable abolition of the stopover should be to plan for change," he said.

He said there should be a strategy for the development of air services out of Shannon, together with other support such as marketing, improvement of access infrastructure and development of airport-related services such as freight distribution and aircraft maintenance.

"Instead of leaning on the crutch of an artificial compulsory landing, Shannon could develop as a powerful engine of growth serving a much extended Irish western seaboard market," Mr Pratt said.

However, a spokesman for the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke said the stopover - which stipulates that for every flight that lands in Dublin, one must land in Shannon - was a pivotal part of the Government's regional development policy and there were no plans to change it.

"It would be damaging for regional development and regional policy if the balance was tilted in favour of Dublin and away from Shannon," he said, noting that the capital was already suffering from congestion.

Debate about the stopover was fuelled recently after the president of the US Tour Operators Association, Mr Bob Whitley, warned that Delta Airlines would pull out of Ireland at the end of the summer season if it had to provide equal service to Dublin and Shannon in winter. Delta, which has frequently signalled it is unhappy with the Shannon stopover, recently projected a revenue loss of $350 million (€394 million).

In his address, Mr Pratt also called on Aer Lingus to restore the air routes between Ireland and the US that were cancelled following September 11th.

He suggested the US and Irish governments provide marketing support to the route.

"North American tourists account for a quarter of Ireland's tourism revenues. The US is our second-largest trading partner and total merchandise trade between the two states last year amounted to $21 billion," he said, referring to the importance of air connections between the two countries.

He also told the pilots there was a strong case for private-sector investment in airport facilities.

The continued development of Dublin Airport was preferable to the development of a site such as Baldonnel, particularly with access projects like the Metro under way, he said.

The existing runway at Dublin Airport needed to be developed to cater for heavier plane loads while it was likely that a second runway would be needed by 2007 or 2008, Mr Pratt said. "I would like to think that private-sector investment could be utilised in making those investments," he added.