The Northern Ireland Connectivity Coalition, which includes NI Chamber, has been convened to create a unity of purpose and work with government to tackle the issues that are currently constraining connectivity in the region.
The Northern Ireland Connectivity Coalition includes Belfast City Airport; Belfast International Airport; City of Derry Airport representatives recently met with Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd in order to discuss poor connectivity in Northern Ireland, and its economic consequences.
The Northern Ireland Connectivity Coalition policy asks to include an effective Air Route Development Scheme and PSO routes, to better connect airports and main transport hubs.
In 2022 Economy Minister Gordon Lyon announced approval for officials to commence work on developing and designing a new Northern Ireland Route Development Scheme (NIRDS), aimed at securing new European, transatlantic, and Middle Eastern routes direct to Northern Ireland.
In October 2023 In October 2023, the Department for the Economy commissioned York Aviation to undertake a review of Northern Ireland’s air connectivity in terms of its ability to support inbound tourism and business growth.
The York Report titled “Air Connectivity to Support Inbound Tourism and Business Growth” stated building on the available evidence, there is a strong case for the NI Government to be seeking to support routes in the following main markets in particular to France with additional Paris frequency, Germany with additional Frankfurt frequency.
The report identified developing services to other major cities, such as Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin and a new service to Copenhagen, providing strong connectivity to the rest of Scandinavia. To report identified a service to North America , notably to New York. The report stated “It should be noted that this should not preclude support in relation to other opportunities that meet the NI Government’s economic development goals.”
The Draft Tourism Strategy for Northern Ireland published in November 2023 proposed a an air route development programme to improve connectivity with France and Germany.
In December 2023 the UK government announced an improved domestic aviation route support with revision to existing Public Service Obligation (PSO) policy to include routes that operate to and from different regions of the UK, rather than just into London airports.
Image Credit: Belfast International Airport
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 10 August 2024 All Rights Reserved
