One of Ireland's most famed pilots of his day fell from the sky this month 80 years ago, defending the Greek capital Athens from a German Luftwaffe onslaught. William 'Timber' Woods DFC from Carrickmacross was in battle in the air over Athens on 20 April 1941.
Today, the industry is on its knees and for Ireland that is a big problem as 90% of inward travel is by air. Aer Lingus saw revenues drop 82% and is also calling for a resumption of aviation plans from the Government. Just this week DAA chief Dalton Philips spoke to a rebooting Ireland conference and likened mandatory hotel quarantine to a sledgehammer, while again calling on the Government to plan for a return to flying and travel, citing the EU green certificates as important to that.
Sinn Féin’s Transport spokesperson Darren O’Rourke has asked what exactly the plan is for rescuing aviation, saying the Minister for Transport "cannot continue to ignore the crisis facing aviation" and that "the Government should also now consider establishing a new Aviation Recovery Taskforce, as so much has changed since the original group was convened and reported last summer".
Pilots Union chief Captain Evan Cullen told an Oireachtas Committee: "The loss of a second consecutive summer season - coming after an entire year of practically zero revenue will prove fatal for airlines that have already depleted their cash reserves".
RayKennedyNews They survived the butter mountain...man-up to the aviation pit.
RayKennedyNews Great article Ray ...fantastic to see quality journalism and proper research giving a balanced view of where we stand. We need digital green cert asap.
RayKennedyNews They just need to allow travel and it’ll come back very fast too expensive over here to go on a holiday cheaper to go to Spain
RayKennedyNews If it wasn't for airplanes the virus wouldn't have become a pandemic!
RayKennedyNews William 'Timber' Woods DFC, Roald Dahl and the Siege of Malta - interesting article! ActionFbpe
RayKennedyNews Tell me about it going into 14 months out of work Dublin Airport