Aer Lingus bemoans lack of State support for airlines

Aer Lingus CE Lynne Embleton warned Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan about the “lack of understanding” within his department of the crisis faced by airlines last July, reports the Sunday Times. The newspaper says that documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show Embleton emailed Ryan raising the concerns ahead of a meeting between Aer Lingus executives and Government on July 30th. Ryan, Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton and Taoiseach Micheál Martin met Embleton and Aer Lingus corporate affairs chief, Donal Moriarty. The carrier had recently announced plans to close its Shannon Airport crew base after reporting losses of E103m for the first three months of the year. Embleton told the Ministers that the Government’s stance on support for air travel would slow the rate at which flights would be restored, resulting in more job losses as restructuring would be more severe. The newspaper notes that Moriarty expressed surprise in an email on July 16th at Ryan’s suggestion that EU state aid rules made helping aviation difficult. The Aer Lingus executive pointed out that other European countries were supporting their airlines, leaving the Irish carrier at a significant disadvantage.<br/>