Ryanair today (Tues, 10^th Nov) gave a cautious welcome to the Government’s announcement of an airport rebate scheme, although its short duration of just three months will not be sufficient to reverse the traffic collapse suffered by Irish aviation and tourism this year.

Ryanair, however, regrets that it has no details of this new scheme, which was announced without any consultation with Irish airlines.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“Three months of rebates does not go far enough. We urge Minister Ryan to adopt the Aviation Task Force recommendation to fund airport rebates for a period of three years.

Over 325,000 people are employed in the Irish Tourism industry and depend on airlines to deliver customers. If our Aviation and Tourism industries are to have any chance of rebounding to pre-Covid levels, then a structural package of incentives is required over three years – not three months – to support this industry on which so many people depend for their livelihoods”.