Following the Government’s decision to abolish the Air Travel Tax from April 2014, Ryanair is being urged to restore services that it axed at Shannon Airport in 2009 and 2010.
The call has been made by Shannon-based Clare Senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) who appealed to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary to “live up to his repeated pledges” that he would reverse the company’s decision to axe services at the airport should the Air Travel Tax be abolished.
“In the three to four years since Ryanair greatly reduced the number of routes served out of Shannon Airport, the airline has repeatedly indicated that it would restore services in the event of the Air Travel Tax being abolished,” explained Senator Mulcahy.
He continued: “I never agreed with this disastrous Fianna Fáil-imposed tax as it undermined the efforts of airports to retain existing routes and develop new services. It also resulted in an additional cost to air travellers after the tax was passed on by airlines at a time when consumer spending was already being reined in at the beginning of the economic downturn. Therefore, I full support this Government’s decision to scrap the tax from April of next year.”
Senator Mulcahy added: “Some will claim that Ryanair used the introduction of the Travel Tax as an excuse for its decision to withdraw services from Shannon Airport but I feel this tax certainly was a primary contributory factor to such a move. Ryanair’s once considerable presence at Shannon generated significant jobs and revenue. At the height of its success in Shannon, Ryanair accounted for 60% or two million of the airport’s traffic. There is no reason why an autonomous Shannon Airport that can control its own landing charges and is no longer burdened by an Air Travel Tax cannot now entice the airline into expanding its current level of services as well as attract other carriers to develop new services.”
The call has been made by Shannon-based Clare Senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) who appealed to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary to “live up to his repeated pledges” that he would reverse the company’s decision to axe services at the airport should the Air Travel Tax be abolished.
“In the three to four years since Ryanair greatly reduced the number of routes served out of Shannon Airport, the airline has repeatedly indicated that it would restore services in the event of the Air Travel Tax being abolished,” explained Senator Mulcahy.
He continued: “I never agreed with this disastrous Fianna Fáil-imposed tax as it undermined the efforts of airports to retain existing routes and develop new services. It also resulted in an additional cost to air travellers after the tax was passed on by airlines at a time when consumer spending was already being reined in at the beginning of the economic downturn. Therefore, I full support this Government’s decision to scrap the tax from April of next year.”
Senator Mulcahy added: “Some will claim that Ryanair used the introduction of the Travel Tax as an excuse for its decision to withdraw services from Shannon Airport but I feel this tax certainly was a primary contributory factor to such a move. Ryanair’s once considerable presence at Shannon generated significant jobs and revenue. At the height of its success in Shannon, Ryanair accounted for 60% or two million of the airport’s traffic. There is no reason why an autonomous Shannon Airport that can control its own landing charges and is no longer burdened by an Air Travel Tax cannot now entice the airline into expanding its current level of services as well as attract other carriers to develop new services.”
