A TRALEE councillor is asking Kerry people to send a postcard to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey urging him to save the county’s airport in the light of a decision by Ryanair to cease operating subsidised flights to Dublin.
The Dublin route is responsible for about a third of annual passenger traffic at Kerry airport. Ryanair is to pull out of the public service obligation contract and operate just one return flight a day, on a commercial basis, from the end of October, cutting the early-morning and late-night routes.
Tralee councillor Pat Hussey (Fine Gael) got a ringing endorsement for his postcard campaign at a special meeting of Tralee Town Council to discuss the crisis facing the airport on Tuesday night.
The meeting was called by Tralee mayor Arthur Spring, amid fears for the regional airport after Ryanair announced it was pulling out of the public service obligation contract to operate early-morning and late-night flights between Kerry and Dublin.
The airline will run just one mid-morning flight a day, returning in the late afternoon – instead of three flights – and will do so on a commercial basis, it has said.
Mr Dempsey said he was getting legal advice on the Ryanair notice period, which he said has not been fulfilled. “Ryanair have to give a minimum of three months’ notice,” the Minister said.