How will investors gain from loss of air links?

YOU report a Cork city councillor as saying (August 11) that Aer Lingus’s new 2008 Cork-Heathrow schedule is good for investors.

I would like to know who these investors are? There is far more Irish money being invested in Britain than vice-versa.

For as long as I can remember, Aer Lingus has based a plane at Cork to service this route. Now they are moving it to Heathrow (Siptu might want to reflect on this fact).

The result is that the earliest time Cork-based travellers can reach Heathrow now is 10.15am. This means that the majority of long-haul flights to the US west coast are inaccessible as they leave Heathrow between 10.30am and 11.30am.

For travellers spending the business day in London or at onward European destinations, the latest return flight will depart Heathrow at 7:30pm — it’s 10.15pm now.

I suspect this move has more to do with the cost of labour for air crew based in Cork than for the convenience of “investors”. This fact has been lost in the controversy over the ending of the Shannon-Heathrow service.

John Ryan

58 Lindville

Blackrock Road

Cork