daa Welcomes Immediate €90 Million Aviation Package To Help Ireland Rebuild Vital Connectivity In Budget 2022

Management at daa has warmly welcomed the news that the Government is to provide €90 million in immediate funding for an aviation package to help Ireland rebuild vital international connectivity following the decimation caused by COVID-19 to the sector over the past two years.

Dalton Philips, CEO at daa said: “Our business at Dublin and Cork Airports has been significantly hit by the fall in the passenger numbers over the past two years, as has the entire aviation ecosystem including our airline partners. Together we have a long journey to travel as we seek to reconnect Ireland to the rest of the world and fulfil our role as an economic enabler for the Irish economy in terms of trade, tourism and social connectivity. We obviously welcome the measures announced in today’s budget and look forward to rebuilding our long and short haul networks out of Dublin and Cork Airports on the strength of these supports.”

Vincent Harrison, Managing Director at Dublin Airport said: “We’re looking forward to further enhancing our traffic recovery incentive schemes for our airline customers who are looking to grow their business at Dublin Airport. This package of supports will help us to further improve upon our already highly competitive airport charges and incentives. Despite the downturn as a direct result of the pandemic, we are already seeing a ramping up of our business since the reopening of international travel in July. We are confident of demand increasing for long and short-haul travel into and out of Dublin Airport over the next number of years as consumer confidence increases daily.”

Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport said: “Today’s announcement has to be warmly welcomed and appreciated. Cork Airport was the second busiest and best-connected airport in the State coming into this pandemic and we aim to return to that position coming out of this crisis. These supports for Irish airports will allow us at Cork Airport to rebuild our international route network into next year and beyond. We have already had some really positive announcements made by our airline customers in recent weeks and we are confident of even more as a result of these Government supports. We are very grateful for this support from the Government as we continue that rebuilding process.”