Sir, – The Government Covid-19 travel restrictions are putting severe pressure on Aer Lingus, the flag carrier airline of Ireland.
Irish Airline Pilots’ Association president Evan Cullen warned the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response on Friday it was not sustainable for the carrier to continue burning €1.5 million a day with little revenue being generated. He said that if the Government wanted to stick with tough travel restrictions, it would also have to provide aid to airlines to ensure that an aviation industry remained at the end of all this. He is of course correct.
In the real capital, my colleagues reminisce about the good old days when one could fly from Cork to Dublin for work in well under an hour.
Now we are facing into a winter of train journeys which will take almost three hours each way, unless we drive our cars up and down the motorway every time we have to attend the Four Courts.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Perhaps Aer Lingus would adopt the much cherished domestic flight from Cork to Dublin which was suspended by Aer Arann 10 years ago?
Our neighbours in Kerry have the luxury of flying to Dublin, as do the people of Donegal.
Bringing this flight route back would help Aer Lingus and it would help us.
After all, we are all in this together. – Yours, etc,
DOIREANN O’MAHONY BL,
Cork.