Ireland West Airport has pledged its support for Ryanair’s call for a level playing field for all European airlines following the approval of financial support for legacy airline carriers across Europe by the European Commission.
Arthur French, Chairman, Ireland West Airport said that as the airport’s biggest carrier serving over 600,000 passengers annually from the airport, Ryanair are a vitally important partner who provide a major economic benefit for the West and North West regions.
“The backbone of the economies of the UK and Europe’s regions is direct air connectivity from small and efficient regional airports with the rest of Europe offered by low fares airlines.
“Now more than ever it is of major importance at EU level to preserve the viability of marginal routes to Europe’s regions during the period of post COVID-19 recovery and redress any imbalance provided by financial supports to large legacy airlines,” he said.
Ryanair, last week released details of financial support in the region of €18bn provided to date by governments across Europe for a number of European airlines. Ryanair has not received any financial support or indeed sought same. Their business model is based on seeking new routes into the regional heartlands of Europe so that people keep taking to the air and spending on the ground, and the wheels of local business keep turning in the regions they serve.
. They deliver vital regional connectivity for the people of the West of Ireland serving 12 destinations from Ireland West Airport and have carried close to nine million passengers through the airport over the past 34 years.
From a regional perspective airlines like Ryanair are the lifeblood for regional connectivity and provide services between key UK and European markets the scale of which legacy airlines do not provide.
