Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kinahan has received a positive response to a question he has tabled at the Assembly about reinstating a substantial Air Route Development Fund to attract new air routes and carriers to Northern Ireland airports.

 The South Antrim MLA said:

 “Earlier this month I shared the widespread disappointment at the negative response of the Enterprise Minister at the suggestion that Air Passenger Duty for short haul flights in and out of Northern Ireland should be reduced or abolished.  At the time however, I added that the Executive should consider a more direct and targeted intervention, as recommended by the authors of the recent Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy Report.

 “That is why I tabled an Assembly question on a new Air Route Development Fund to attract new air routes and carriers to airports in Northern Ireland.  This approach has worked in the past.  DETI, under Sir Reg Empey in the early 2000s set up a substantial fund operated by a company called Air Route Development (NI) Ltd.  This was at a time when we only had one daily direct non-tourist flight out of Northern Ireland, which was to Amsterdam.  After the Fund was instigated, nine new scheduled routes were launched, including the Newark, New Jersey route operated by Continental, now United Airlines, from the International Airport at Aldergrove.

 “I welcome Minister Foster’s positive response to my question.  She says her Department is ‘examining the potential, including costs, for a new Northern Ireland specific air route development fund which would commence operation in 2016/17. The purpose of this fund would be to develop connectivity to business destinations and those routes with inbound tourism potential’.

 “This is a positive move forward. The model for this fund is already there, so if the political and financial will exists, this policy should be implemented sooner, rather than later.

 “However we also need to look at reducing Air Passenger Duty on a UK wide basis, and at a local level we need to do more to allow our airports to compete on a more level playing field with Dublin.  This is on the Stormont agenda; I hope to be able to put it on the Westminster agenda in May.”