asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the guarantees he will give that non-Irish airlines will not move into routes recently taken from Aer Lingus and given to Ryanair exclusively, thereby putting in jeopardy the continuing involvement of an Irish airline on such routes.
Written Answers. - Air Routes.
204.
It would not be open to me to refuse an application by a non-Irish airline to operate a service on any of the three routes in question viz. DublinStansted, Dublin-Liverpool and Dublin-Munich. Rights to operate on these routes are available to UK and German airlines respectively under the relevant bilateral air services agreements and under EC legislation. I have not, however, received any application from a non-Irish airline to operate on any of the routes concerned.
I should say that the object of the Government's policy is not to protect Irish airlines from competition but to enable the two Irish airlines to meet increasing foreign competition from positions of strength and to take maximum advantage of liberalisation in the Community in the run-up to 1992.