Ulster Unionist economy spokesperson Alan Chambers MLA has welcomed the announcement of new routes from Belfast International Airport, adding that there now needs to be increased focus on obtaining new routes from areas which could attract tourists into Northern Ireland. The new Jet2 routes are Antalya, Costa de Almeria, Crete, Madeira, Malta, Naples, Paphos and Rhodes.

Alan Chambers MLA said:

“The organisers of the Routes Europe Conference at the Waterfront Hall deserve great credit and the announcement of new Jet2 routes from Belfast International Airport is very encouraging news.   Giving holiday makers and business users here more choice and options in travelling to Europe is positive, but of course what we want to see are routes which will bring tourists into Northern Ireland.  We need to open up more opportunities for our already vibrant tourism industry. 

“We constantly say that tourism has massive potential as a growth industry for Northern Ireland, but government both at Westminster and at Stormont needs to play its part.  The Ulster Unionist Party has long argued that VAT on tourist services should be reduced right across the UK.  In addition, surely the time is right to seriously re-examine the whole issue of abolishing Air Passenger Duty, as advocated by Ulster Unionist MP Danny Kinahan.  Both these taxes put us at a competitive disadvantage against the Republic of Ireland.

“Any increase in tourist numbers feeds directly into the local economy with the construction industry benefitting from the number of new hotels in the pipeline to satisfy increasing demand. This increase in new air routes is further evidence of the opportunities that investors are seeing in Northern Ireland.  However, there is also an urgent need for stable and sustainable government to be established at Stormont to maintain and build on this positive momentum going forward.”