New research on Ireland's air transport links was published today by Chambers Ireland.
The report - Ireland's Aviation Services at a Glance - says that over 40 airlines currently serve the country.
Dan Loughrey, Chair of Chambers Ireland's Air Transport Users Council, says the country's connectivity with the rest of the world is in 'rude good health'. During high season, 36 destinations are flown to from Cork, 39 from Shannon and 151 from Dublin airport.
But in the report on aviation published today, Chambers Ireland says new long-haul routes need to be developed to the east. It also calls for airport infrastructure to be prioritised - saying that Dublin Airport's taxi-ways need to be improved and used more efficiently. It says that in tandem with terminal development, this would have positive knock-on effects for all connecting flights.
The Chambers report also calls for the speeding up of the status for full commercial freedom for Shannon airport. It says that from Shannon's point of view, to deal with the opportunities and challenges of Open Skies, the airport needs the freedom to be able to offer its own pricing and its own incentives to attract new airlines into Shannon.
On emissions, the report claims that aviation is not as great a contributor to global warming as it portrayed to be and that there should be balance in the debate and a balanced solution reached by all sections of the transport industry.
