Statement on the Report on Aviation policy.

The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D., has received an Interim Report dealing with aspects of Aviation Policy from the Ad Hoc Interdepartmental Group on Visitor Issues which was established to propose measures to meet the challenges faced by the Irish economy in the wake of the September 11th atrocities in the United States.

The Group believes that in order to

facilitate the maximum viable number of visitors to Ireland through a wide range of reliable, regular and competitive commercial air services for Irish tourism, trade and industry, and
to ensure that Irish airports are cost competitive and have appropriate infrastructure to meet the current and prospective needs of the international airline industry,

the following measures should be implemented by Aer Rianta:-

to develop a more aggressive drive to incentivise growth in passenger numbers through pricing and market support strategies (this would include incentivising growth from current levels on existing routes)
to procure the development of Pier D by Spring 2003 on the basis of existing planning permission as a low cost facility targeting low-cost carriers;
to enter into appropriate arrangements for the management of Pier D to ensure that it facilitates significant growth in throughput at Dublin Airport from low-cost operators;
to manage the allocation of existing facilities in the interim to encourage growth in traffic by low cost carriers through appropriate capacity allocation plans at Dublin Airport;
to develop appropriate strategies to increase traffic through Shannon and Cork with a view to implementation by next years tourist season.

The Taoiseach has consulted with the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke T.D., who has asked Aer Rianta to respond within a week to the proposals contained in the report. 19th November, 2001.