On Wednesday, the CEO of Ryanair Eddie Wilson dropped the bombshell that Ryanair would cease all flights to and from Shannon Airport from November 4th to December 12th and Mr. Wilson, along with the interim CEO of Aer Lingus, Donal Moriarty, announced that they would not confirm the reopening of their respective bases at Shannon Airport in 2021 unless travel restrictions ease.
The government is expected to implement the EU’s traffic light system for international travel by November 8th, and the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) is currently carrying out a validation process on LAMP testing that could be incorporated in order to open up international travel again. However, this is unlikely to be rolled out by November.
If Ryanair and Aer Lingus don’t reopen their bases at the MidWest airport in the new year, what impact will this have on the tourism and hospitality sector in Clare – one of the sector’s worst hit by the pandemic? Prior to COVID-19, Clare’s tourism and hospitality industry supported 12,000 jobs and generated €266 million in revenue annually for the local economy.
Pat was joined on the line by Luke Aston, Chairman of Loop Head Tourism, to discuss the issue.
