Irish Regions Office Website

May 23, 2009

Regional air access

High accessibility for visitors and investors from elsewhere is a prerequisite for attractiveness and economic development potential. A recent ESPON study of the relative change in potential accessibility by air for Europes'regions from 2001 to 2006 examined the detailed air transport network of scheduled flight connections between all European airports. An associated map rates every region's relative position by reference to a European average.

The findings indicate that the South-East followed by the West were in the categories to have gained most ground during this period while all other Irish regions, particularly the South-West, receded in the rankings. The dominant factor seems to be the opening up of Eastern Europe which, along with improved access to remoter parts of Spain, Italy and Scandinavia, mainly through the growing proliferation of low-cost airline routes, has greatly redressed the traditional European core-periphery pattern to the extent that several major Capital regions have lost their comparative advantage.

http://www.espon.eu/mmp/online/website/functions/home/maps/2368/index_EN.html

Posted by iroronan at May 23, 2009 02:35 PM