Flybe

Lord Caine Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord raises an interesting point. My colleague, the Aviation Minister, will be making calls this afternoon to the devolved Administrations and many other stakeholders to ensure that this is the start of a long-term discussion about the importance of air connectivity to the regions.

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, as a regular user of Flybe services from Belfast over many years, I too am deeply saddened by and concerned about today’s announcement. The impact on Northern Ireland could be huge. I welcome the Minister’s reference to the commitment in the Conservative Northern Ireland manifesto to looking at devolving short-haul air passenger duty to the Northern Ireland Executive. In view of today’s sad announcement, and the fact that we now have an Executive up and running, will the Minister commit to taking this forward as a matter of urgency?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I thank my noble friend for his comment. I believe that this work is already under way.