Oral Answers to Questions

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to safeguard air passenger routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

What steps he is taking to ensure that air connectivity continues between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Robin Walker)]

The Government are committed to maintaining air connectivity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland during these unprecedented times. That is why we worked with the Executive to provide a £5.7 million financial support package to City of Derry and Belfast City Airports to ensure that services to and from London will continue.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sammy Wilson [V]]

Given the integration between the Northern Ireland economy and the GB economy, air connectivity is vital to any recovery plan out of this health crisis, yet it has practically stopped at present. Will the Minister commit first to continue support for our airports, including Belfast International, secondly to work towards the abolition of air passenger duty, which adds substantially to costs, and thirdly to give every encouragement to present airlines and prospective carriers to open routes quickly again?

[Mr Walker]

The hon. Gentleman makes some excellent points. It is vital that we continue to prioritise connectivity. As he knows, we stepped in where necessary to protect connectivity that might otherwise have been lost. Ministers agree that at this stage Belfast International is financially stable, but we will certainly keep that under review and continue to work closely with the Executive on all those issues.