Consultation on future of NI air travel published

Regional Development Minister Peter Robinson has welcomed the publication of the Northern Ireland Air Transport Consultation Document by the British Department of Transport today.

The consultation is part of the government response to the huge rise in air travel and how to best provide the airport provision necessary to cope with demand. The government believes that already-stretched air traffic controllers will be deluged as volume is expected to increase threefold by the year 2030. Following the consultation period, a government White Paper on air transport is expected to be in place by early next year.

Mr Robinson said that the outcome of the consultation would impact greatly on Northern Ireland as it was heavily reliant on air links with the mainland. As such, he said, the time had come for government to make the "difficult decisions" over the future of air travel.

“As the only part of the United Kingdom with no direct road or rail links with the mainland, Northern Ireland is very heavily dependent upon its air links with Great Britain," said Mr Robinson.

“Clearly there are many pressures on the airports in the London area and I am pleased that government at national level is preparing to take some difficult decisions on how to cope with increasing demand.”

The publication is the last in a series of consultation documents covering all UK regions. In common with the consultation documents for the other regions, the NI Consultation Document identifies a number of possible future scenarios and invites views on a range of key issues affecting air transport.

Earlier this year, the DRD commissioned a study of Northern Ireland Air Services by Oxford Economic Forecasting and Airport Strategy and Marketing. The minister said that this study had produced "a wealth of valuable information" and he pledged to publish the findings of the study to interested parties to assist them in responding to the consultation document.

(GMcG)