AQW 7493/17-22

Mr Andrew Muir
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 23/09/2020
Answered On Date: 05/10/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy whether she intends to bring forward an aviation recovery strategy.

Answer:

Civil aviation is a reserved matter for the UK Department for Transport (DfT). In late 2018 DfT published a draft UK Aviation 2050 strategy for public consultation, which DfE responded to last year. In January 2020, in response to the collapse of Flybe, DfT announced a Regional Air Connectivity Review.

Both of these, unfortunately, have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. DfT have recently advised that they intend to publish a UK Aviation Recovery Plan in the autumn, which will identify measures to support aviation in the short to medium term.

The need for, and the content of, an aviation recovery strategy for Northern Ireland will clearly be heavily influenced by the outworkings of these pieces of work from DfT. My Department will continue to engage with DfT to contribute to them, as required.