DAA, the operator of Dublin, Shannon and Cork Airports is cautiously optimistic that traffic levels will soon return to the healthy levels of growth that were consistently recorded in the decade up to 2008. A series of recent economic indicators appear to show renewed investor confidence in the Irish economy after a turbulent two year period.
Speaking to The HUB this weekend, Cormac O'Connell Head of Aviation Business Development, DAA said: “The Irish economy is showing clear signs of recovery – at its most basic, Q2 2011 GDP growth in Ireland was an impressive 2.3 per cent. However, behind the GDP growth figures are further nuggets of evidence to convince airlines to view the Irish market place with more confidence. For instance borrowing costs for the Irish government dipped below 8 per cent at the end of September 2011, offering the prospect of an earlier return to fiscal independence.”
However, it is the area of international trade growth - a key attraction factor for airlines - that Ireland has a really strong story to communicate. “It was a real achievement for Ireland to retain its world number two position globally behind Singapore for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) attractiveness judged by the 2010 fDi Intelligence Inward Investment Performance Monitor,” explained O’Connell. Additionally, only last week, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland reported that US companies invested $18bn into the country in the first half of 2011, an increase of 49 per cent over the previous year. To put this into perspective, US investment into Ireland exceeds the investment into the BRIC countries combined.
The DAA team in Berlin will be sharing this message of cautious optimism with airline planners during World Routes.
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