Ulster Unionist Peer and former Stormont Economy Minister, Lord Empey, has asked the Government to consider putting short term Public Service Obligations in place to encourage other airlines to fill the void left by the collapse of Flybe.
Lord Empey said:
“During a Government statement today on the future of Flybe, I raised the following points with the Transport Minister, Baroness Vere:
1) Was the Government prepared to look at short term Public Service Obligations to encourage other airlines to replace Flybe at short notice, during which time negotiations with the relevant airport could continue?
2) Will the Minister discuss with her Treasury colleagues the fact that even if Air Passenger Duty is devolved or reduced for flights from Northern Ireland, under current procedures the loss of tax revenue will be recovered by the Treasury via a reduction in Stormont's block grant, and given the situation where the NI Executive is under resourced by over £600m, this would be an impossible burden?
“I spoke briefly to the Minister after the statement, and she told me that the Government were looking at all options to see what could be done in the short term to restore services.
“I hope that some airlines will begin to fill the gap, but we are in the middle of a perfect storm for the airline industry with the coronavirus impacting bookings and hitting all of them.
“I sincerely hope the Government will not allow a cherry picking of the best bits of Flybe, including its valuable landing slots at Heathrow and Gatwick.
“Another idea worth considering is an incentive scheme for attracting new operators. When I was Minister responsible for tourism in the Executive, I introduced the 'Air Route Development Fund' which was run by DETI and was aimed at helping carriers with their marketing and promotion. This would be something that Stormont could do in conjunction with London.
“We need urgent action in order to protect our economy from greater isolation, given that a border in the Irish Sea is already in preparation.”