Chernobyl children's charities in Ireland have expressed their disappointment at the announcement that Belarusian national airline, Belavia, has cancelled its winter schedule to Shannon.
The airline announced yesterday that it was withdrawing its scheduled weekly winter service between Shannon and Minsk from October 25th because of falling passenger numbers and increased operating costs. It also said it would review next year's summer schedule - it currently runs twice weekly in summer - in January.
The airline has said, however, that it would accommodate the estimated 85 Irish Chernobyl charities if they organised charter flights.
Igor Kirsanov, general manager with Belavia in Shannon, said numbers using the route had been dropping steadily since 2004, from 13,000 a year to around 9,000, when the accession countries joined the EU.
"Belarus is not in the EU and when the new countries joined the EU work permits to Belarusians stopped," he said. "The flights are no longer profitable."
Liam O'Meara, director of the Burren Chernobyl Project, said it would be possible to organise a charter flight to Minsk but it would need a lot of small, not very well organised groups to get together.
"We are volunteers and someone would have to take on the task," he said.
He said the alternative would be to fly via Paris or London, which would require additional, complicated paperwork to provide second transit visas for the children.
Michael Dent, chairman of the Chernobyl Children's Appeal, said they would have to cancel a planned visit of 12 children to Ireland at Christmas.
