Ryanair has called for the immediate execution of four policy proposals in the Iralndia report to enhance Ireland’s aviation sector. The “Pathfinder” Report outlines recommendations aimed at stimulating tourism, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and indigenous industry.
Michael O’Leary criticised the delay in taking action on key infrastructure matters for aviation in Ireland. The report highlights the need to boost pilot training, remove the passenger cap in Dublin and Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the six counties and upgrade repair facilities. .
Concerns were raised about the performance of the Transport Department and its civil servants regarding aviation advancements. The report by Declan Ryan, Eamon Brennan and Joe Gill warned that political negligence due to increasing international competition endangers Ireland’s status as a crucial aviation hub.
The report raises alarms about infrastructural hurdles, particularly focusing on the inadequacies of Dublin Airport’s passenger capacity restrictions. Ireland hosts over 50 aircraft leasing firms overseeing 10,000 aircraft, representing 37pc of the global commercial fleet, underscoring its pivotal role in global air transport.
Industry leaders express eagerness to invest in Ireland but stress the urgent need for comprehensive strategic planning, particularly regarding infrastructure at Dublin Airport. Employment growth potential from the aviation ecosystem could support critical sectors of the Irish economy, including tourism and foreign investment.
Michael O’Leary shared: “This “Pathfinder” Report has distilled four concrete policy proposals, which our Govt should implement urgently. Ryanair calls for the immediate implementation of these policy recommendations to; (1) boost pilot training in Ireland, (2) remove APD tax in the six counties, (3) immediately scrap the (unlawful) traffic cap at Dublin Airport and (4) advance the rapid development of MRO aircraft and engine repair facilities on the island of Ireland.
Our new Government, led by Micheál Martin, have now spent 6 months in power. Regrettably, zero progress has been made to stimulate aviation on our island nation. Despite all their talk, there has been zero action to implement real change on Infrastructure and on Aviation. A Govt with a 20-seat majority and a secure 5 year term, does not need 6 months to pass legislation to scrap the absurd and unlawful traffic cap at Dublin Airport, or to remove our airports from the dead hand of local planners in Fingal County Counccil or the misguided incompetence of An Bord Pleanála.
We have had a new Transport Minister for 6 months now, yet still nothing moves in Transport. This Dept is run by clueless, incompetent civil servants, who produce little other than reasons why “nothing” can be done. We call on Minister Darragh O’Brien to urgently move legislation to scrap Dublin Airport’s illegal traffic cap, and to urgently implement the 4 ambitious proposals in this “Pathfinder” Report. Another six months of inaction by the Dept of Transport is more than enough delay. Ireland’s Transport Dept should implement change or sack the useless civil servants responsible for Aviation and replace them with new people committed to growing Irish Aviation to mirror the way Ryanair has grown traffic, tourism, and jobs across Europe.”
Joe Gill, co-author of the Irelandia report shared “Ireland is one of the most critical nodes in the global aviation network because of scale, expertise and connectivity. What we heard from global aviation leaders from London to Hong Kong to Dubai and Washington is that Ireland’s success story in aviation is admired, but it’s not guaranteed.”
Eamonn Brennan, former Director General of Eurocontrol shared “The scale of expertise, assets and capital concentrated in Ireland is exceptional, managing over a third of the world’s leased aircraft Ireland plays a unique, central role in global aviation but that role must be safeguarded through deliberate planning and decisive action.”
