1.  We fully recognise the environmental concerns of local residents who live near Belfast City Airport and we welcome the very positive efforts of Airport management who reassured us that "we are trying to work closely with the community around us". (Paragraph 20)

2.  An application to review the current Planning Agreement at the Belfast City Airport is with the Department of the Environment for decision. We also understand that leave has been granted to Belfast International Airport to seek a judicial review of the application. Whist it would be inappropriate for us to recommend a particular course of action on the issue, we believe that a 'seats for sale' restriction is not a valid or suitable way to manage the environmental impact of airport activity. We urge the Minister for the Environment to ensure that a decision is forthcoming as quickly as possible. (Paragraph 22)

3.  It appears that the dependence of Belfast International Airport on low-cost or no-frills airlines has increased its need for greater passenger volume and the associated retail and related spending. This is a situation that is brought into greater focus against the background of the airport's planned substantial capital expenditure programme. (Paragraph 25)

4.  We fully recognise that there is a limit to the number of destinations currently served from Dublin that may be able to be offered from Belfast irrespective of support from the Route Development Fund. (Paragraph 26)

5.  We urge the Minister for Regional Development to consider what action can be taken to reduce the financial burden of the City of Derry Airport deficit on the ratepayers in the Derry City Council area, such as refinancing the loans or rescheduling payments. (Paragraph 31)

6.  We fully understand the importance of City of Derry Airport for the North West region and we recognise that its future rests on its ability to develop and expand to attract new services. We therefore wholeheartedly welcome the decision in principle by the two Governments to provide £10 million for development and urge the Minister for Regional Development to ensure that the outstanding conditions are addressed as quickly as possible. (Paragraph 34)

7.  We call on the Minister for Regional Development to undertake the review of governance of the City of Derry Airport as a matter of urgency. (Paragraph 35)

8.  We recognise that Dublin Airport, for a variety of reasons, including in particular, the range of direct services it has to offer, will continue to attract significant numbers of passengers from Northern Ireland. Steps should be taken to keep this 'leakage' to a minimum for the overall benefit of the Northern Ireland economy. In the absence of reliable and up-to-date information on passengers from Northern Ireland who use Dublin Airport, and vice versa, we believe it will be impossible to measure the impact of any policy measures aimed at addressing the issue. (Paragraph 42)

9.  We call on the Minister for Regional Development to commission an urgent study to determine the number of passengers from Northern Ireland who use Dublin Airport and those from the Republic of Ireland who use the Belfast airports, and, equally important, to carry out a detailed analysis of the factors which influence those decisions. Following this, we urge the Minister to consider what further steps can be taken to improve the competitiveness of Belfast airports and to reduce the flow of passengers to Dublin. We also urge the Minister to pursue with the Treasury what measures can be taken to address the impact of the significant tax differentials between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. (Paragraph 43)

10.  It seems evident that adequate research was not carried out before the Route Development Fund was introduced to identify priority target routes based on clear business needs and inbound tourism potential. The absence of such priorities has resulted in funding being awarded in what appears to be an ad-hoc and haphazard way. We are concerned that the start-up of any new routes seems to be accepted by Government as an end in itself and, although this may provide a social benefit for Northern Ireland, it does not meet the stated objectives of the Fund. (Paragraph 47)

11.  From a business perspective the routes supported by the Route Development Fund to continental Europe would appear to fail to meet the objective of allowing a day's business to be transacted, as in many cases they do not provide a minimum of a daily service and, where they do, it would not be possible to return later the same day. (Paragraph 50)

12.  We recognise the importance of developing new routes to hub airports that provide alternatives to Heathrow. However, the value of such connections is greatly reduced where the airlines do not provide direct connections to onward flights. The merits of giving greater priority in allocating Route Development Funding to 'full service' airlines connecting to their hubs should be considered. (Paragraph 53)

13.  We commend the use of the Route Development Fund to support a new direct service from Belfast International to New York's Newark International Airport, which is due to begin shortly. This is a particularly welcome service which will provide full interlining at an important east coast hub allowing onward connections throughout the North American continent. (Paragraph 55)

14.  The absence of any specific economic targets means that the only measure of success of the Route Development Fund will be the sustainability of supported routes. This is not sufficient, and we recommend that the way in which the scheme is currently monitored, and the identification of appropriate targets be reviewed urgently. (Paragraph 57)

15.  We take very seriously the warning that Route Development Funding may distort the market and we have concerns that, as more regions of the United Kingdom introduce Route Development Funding schemes, its efficacy could be seriously diminished with airlines tempted to switch routes to chase this support. (Paragraph 59)

16.  Since the introduction of the Route Development Fund there has been a significant upturn in air services generally throughout Europe, particularly by low cost airlines. We are aware of some 25 new routes in Northern Ireland announced since the launch of the fund with nine of these supported by the Fund. It is difficult to assess how many of these supported routes would have commenced without funding. While the overall aims and objectives of the Fund are commendable, we have serious concerns about how they have been applied in practice and believe that the maximum potential economic benefit may not have been achieved for Northern Ireland. (Paragraph 61)

17.  We recommend that, before any additional funding is provided for route development, a thorough, robust and independent review be carried out into the operation of the scheme to date and its potential to contribute further to economic development in Northern Ireland. (Paragraph 62)

18.  We recognise the importance of passenger survey data and would encourage the CAA to include Northern Ireland airports in a further survey at the earliest possible opportunity. (Paragraph 66)

19.  We recognise the crucial importance for Northern Ireland of maintaining access to Heathrow and the difficulties in developing a mechanism to protect this service. We welcome the continuing overall commitment to Northern Ireland by bmi, and the reassurance that there is no immediate threat to its service to Heathrow. However, we urge the Minister for Regional Development, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, to explore and develop contingency plans to protect the service. (Paragraph 68)

20.  We consider that the extent of potential connecting benefits at other European hubs may be illusory if the onward service from that hub is not flown by the main carrier or one of its alliance partners. This point is made by the CAA in its Regional Air Services Study. Heathrow will continue to be the main airport enabling Northern Ireland passengers to make onward global connections, although increasing congestion in the near term may make alternative options, where they exist, more attractive. (Paragraph 71)

21.  We recognise the growing importance of air freight services to enable the business sector in Northern Ireland to compete in the global market, and we commend the current study by the CBI and Belfast International Airport. (Paragraph 75)