madam president my particular perspective in this debate is on the impact on the more peripheral airports and on airlines which are already in economic difficulties
i live on an island which is behind an island which is off the coast of europe
as such our peripheral airports and our airlines are particularly important for connectivity and mobility
there are a number of regional airports on the west coast of ireland
we have donegal sligo ireland west airport knock shannon and kerry
given our proximity to iceland and our island status we have particularly severe problems to deal with because of the ash
with reference to peripheral airports i believe the commission should fully promote international pso routes in terms of connectivity of peripheral airports to hubs and that member states should be given real flexibility when it comes to state aid to peripheral airports
furthermore there are many airlines already in financial trouble and they may go out of business because of this crisis
let us not fool ourselves
it is not going to go away any time soon
this will lead to job losses in the airline sector and consequently less competition in the market
we have to look very seriously at how the eu can play a constructive role both from the perspective of an equitable distribution of financial assistance and the crisis management tools that are at our disposal
finally it is important to realise that current legislation was put in place to stop airlines cancelling flights because it suited them but we are now in a position where airspace is closed and airlines cannot fly
the financial burdens are very significant on all actors passengers airlines and airports
the question is who is responsible and who bears the financial burdens
