The return of the Aer Lingus Gatwick route to Ireland West Airport Knock and the Aer Lingus Heathrow route to Shannon Airport is a considerable boost for Galway and the west of Ireland, according to Dep Frank Fahey.
“The announcements by Aer Lingus with regard to the return of the Heathrow route to Shannon and the Gatwick route to Ireland West Airport Knock are a considerable boost to the west of Ireland,” said Dep Fahey, who chairs the Oireachtas transport committee.
“The Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion and chairman Colm Barrington came before the transport committee last week to discuss a range of issues, including Ryanair’s bid for Aer Lingus, and I stressed to them that there was still a considerable amount of goodwill felt by the Irish people towards Aer Lingus but that it was under threat because of their actions in the regions in recent months.
“It pulled out of Ireland West Airport Knock and it pulled out of Galway as a feeder airline. It also pulled out of Shannon and Farranfore airports. Abandoning the regions is not a move I would ever endorse. That is why I would like to warmly welcome the move to return these routes to IWAK and Shannon.”
Dep Fahey said the airline now needs to invest heavily in marketing the revived routes.
“These two routes open up the west and the midwest to considerable tourism and business traffic and in the current climate of economic downturn, this is a very significant development,” he added.
