THE decision by Bus Éireann to carry out a public and online advertisement campaign in Limerick promoting its services to Dublin Airport has been questioned locally.
Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne this week described a large Expressway service advertisement at Punches Cross for daily services from Limerick to Dublin Airport as “absurd”.
She also called on the company to remove the advertisement and cease its online advertising campaign.
“It is another nail in the coffin in Shannon Airport’s efforts to encourage holidaymakers to fly from Shannon. Bus Éireann is facilitating Dublin Airport’s greed by spending taxpayer money on such advertisement,” Senator Byrne claimed.
She went onto highlight a need for better state support and more joined-up thinking in relation to Shannon Airport.
“In July I wrote to Transport Minister Shane Ross asking him to look at providing funding for infrastructure projects at Shannon Airport that would be permitted under EU State Aid rules. This would enable Shannon Airport to spend its financial resources on expanding routes/marketing campaigns instead of costly infrastructure projects,” she explained.
A spokesman for Bus Éireann told the Limerick Post that Expressway continue to work with Shannon Airport to increase passenger numbers.
“Shannon Airport is served by Expressway routes 51 and X51 which provide 38 trips every day to and from towns and villages in Galway, Limerick and Cork. Customers can interchange in any of these locations to all points on the Expressway network. Expressway continues to work with Shannon Airport to increase passenger numbers.
“In addition, Bus Éireann operates a high-frequency commuter route (Route 343) between Limerick and Shannon Airport.
“This year, Expressway targeted Dublin Airport under the banner “Get to the Airport ready to fly”, which focused on customers travelling to and from Dublin Airport. This campaign, which ran in all towns and villages across Ireland, had a domestic and International reach and involved TV, radio, social and out of home collateral. Services to Shannon Airport are advertised in all the towns and villages along the route,” he concluded.
