Lord Empey: The Northern Ireland-Heathrow air route needs government support

The latest collapse of Flybe highlights the precarious situation of Northern Ireland’s air connectivity to the rest of the United Kingdom.

Within two months, Belfast City has gone from having two airlines flying to Heathrow to one.

This has a serious impact on those who are travelling regularly for work and business and creates the danger of if becoming exceptionally expensive on the limited options left.

There is no question that this should be an issue on the radar of the UK government. For regional capitals it is important that connectivity to London is protected. But Northern Ireland has the added disadvantage in that we cannot jump in a car or on a train, so air links are vital.

In the ‘Union Connectivity Review’ ordered by the UK government, Belfast to Heathrow was shown to be number five in the top ten most used domestic routes of 2019. A key recommendation of the same report was:

“Where journeys are too long to be reasonably taken by road or rail, the UK Government should: Intervene in the assignment of slots at London airports to provide more slots for domestic routes.”

Yet the Belfast to Heathrow route is being let wither on the vine!

There are a number of interventions the UK government could make, not least one from their own report to provide more slots in the nation’s capital.

They also have a duty to ensure that fares are maintained at a reasonable level and that a monopoly is not allowed to exploit the situation. There is also a quick win available on incentivising NI airports if the government would finally act on abolishing Air Passenger Duty.

The government is already failing Northern Ireland in placing us at a disadvantage by allowing a sea border to be placed between us and the rest of the UK. They must not be found asleep at the wheel again on the issue of connectivity to the rest of our nation.

Lord Empey, Ulster Unionist, Westminster