A Kerry TD has warned that the county\u2019s economy is under threat as international aviation challenges and rising fuel costs begin to impact overseas visitor numbers.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the D\u00e1il this week, Deputy Michael Cahill (FF) told the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that \u201cnervousness\u201d is growing across the sector. He warned that global instability, particularly in the Middle East, is driving flight cuts and surcharges that could leave peripheral regions like Kerry \u201cexposed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTourism in Kerry is the lifeblood of our local economy,\u201d Deputy Cahill said. \u201cFrom Killarney to Dingle, thousands of jobs depend on a stable flow of overseas visitors. That stability is now under threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Deputy highlighted that the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has already signalled that earlier growth projections of 5% to 7% for this year are unlikely to be met. He noted that Lufthansa has already announced 20,000 flight cuts globally, while Aer Lingus has seen reductions.<\/p>\n
Regional Vulnerability
Minister Peter Burke (FG) acknowledged the challenges, noting that 90% of Ireland\u2019s inbound connectivity depends on air access. However, he pointed to a new tourism policy, A New Era for Irish Tourism, and a \u20ac400 million capital plan over the next five years designed to enhance the \u201cvalue proposition\u201d for visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had strong growth this year,\u201d Minister Burke said, \u201cbut we recognise that geopolitical instability can have implications. We are working with airlines to ensure they don\u2019t just consolidate routes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calls for Kerry Airport expansion
Deputy Cahill argued that a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d approach would not work for the South West, noting that international visitors to Killarney and Kenmare cannot be fully replaced by domestic tourism.<\/p>\n
He specifically urged the Minister to prioritise regional air access and called for the introduction of new flight routes to Kerry Airport from Belfast, Barcelona, and Amsterdam to offset potential losses from other markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cKerry is a premium destination but also a peripheral one,\u201d Cahill said. \u201cIf flights become more expensive, visitors often choose alternative destinations entirely. We need proactive measures to protect our regional airports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister Burke confirmed that new viability mechanisms and VAT supports will kick in on July 1, alongside \u201cstrategic air activation schemes\u201d to market new flights as they become available. He committed to working with Kerry representatives to ensure the \u201cKingdom\u201d benefits from the \u20ac400 million investment fund.<\/p>\n
Michael Cahill TD with former Kerry Airport CEO John Mulhern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Kerry TD has warned that the county\u2019s economy is under threat as international aviation challenges and rising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-427350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}