AQW 19843/17-22

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 03/06/2021
Answered On Date: 02/07/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy for an update on the Northern Ireland Domestic Aviation Kickstart Scheme.

Answer:

On Thursday 24 June 2021 I announced the launch of the NI Domestic Aviation Kickstart Scheme (NIDAKS) as part of my Department’s Economic Recovery Action Plan (ERAP).

The NIDAKS is a £4.5million initiative to support air connectivity between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and has three elements – maintaining a minimum route frequency on a core network of domestic routes, incentivising enhanced frequency on those routes above the minimum, and encouraging new routes which are economically important to NI.

The NIDAKS aim is to support inbound tourism and business travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and to encourage inward investment into the local economy. These are essential for recovery.

Our domestic and international air connectivity is critical, for both the local tourism sector and the wider economy, especially as we focus on recovery. The launch of the NIDAKS delivers on our commitment to support NI’s domestic air connectivity with GB.