Tag Archives: Neil Pakey

A very merry Christmas, with an anticipated 15% increase in passenger numbers from 12 months ago, kicked off at Shannon Airport at the weekend, as 2,000 children and parents got to meet Santa in the skies. In an initiative to thank the public for its support over what has been a year of strong growth, as well as raise some much needed funds for two local charities, Shannon Airport, in partnership with Ryanair, made Christmas come early for the excited children as 12 flights took the skies over Saturday and Sunday. Among those getting to savour this special moment were special needs children from the Clare Crusaders Clinic, St Gabriel’s School in Limerick and Mirmear Autism Unit in Tipperary. Demand for the ‘free flights’, the booking fee for which goes to charity, was so high that they booked out in all of 12 minutes, when they went up for grabs two weeks ago. The airport is readying itself for its …

Shannon Airport’s strong momentum across 2014 has continued into the final month of the autumn, with passenger numbers for October showing a 28% increase on the same period twelve months ago. The biggest gains in passengers through the terminal were again on European services, which were up by 63% on the same period 12 months ago thanks to a range of nine attractive new routes that were launched for the summer season (April through to end of October). Eight of those were on the European market, which resulted in a 111% increase (from 20,347 to 42,950) in passengers to and from the continent last month compared to October 2013. Transatlantic passengers were up by 15% (from 23,511 to 27,108) thanks to the increased frequency across New York and Boston services this year, with Shannon’s biggest market, the UK, up by 6% (from 61,681 to 65,243). Welcoming the growth, Airport CEO Neil Pakey said, “It’s been a really great summer season …

SHANNON Airport’s recovery continued throughout August and September, with passenger numbers showing a 22% and 17% increase respectively on the same months in 2013. The biggest percentage growth on August and September of last year was on Shannon’s European network, which had a 73% rise in August and one of 51% in September. This was largely due to eight new European services being introduced. Transatlantic numbers were up 9% in August and 11% in September, while numbers travelling between Shannon and the UK increased by 5% in August and 3% in September, year on year. Welcoming the figures, airport Chief Executive Neil Pakey said, “What is most pleasing is we are achieving growth across all our markets. Last year we saw the biggest gains on transatlantic but this year the biggest increase has been in European services, with growth also on our UK network. All of this is particularly important this year with the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way. …

The Committee of Public Accounts will on this Thursday meet with representatives from the Shannon Free Airport Development Company to consider its 2013 accounts. Neil Pakey, CEO of Shannon Airport and Stephen Curran of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will be appearing before the Committee in the afternoon. Following the announcement that Shannon Development would merge with Shannon Airport in 2012, the enterprise functions transferred to Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, with the tourism functions transferring to Fá;ilte Ireland. Shannon Group plc was formally created last month.

This Friday is a yet another red letter day in the history of Shannon Airport. The Shannon Group plc has  been formally established by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe. The new company will be a key conduit for growth across the West of Ireland and beyond, its chairman Rose Hynes stated. She said that the four strategic business units that make up the Shannon Group will co-exist within the group, elevating the business into a single entity of significant regional and national importance. The Shannon Group plc brings together: · Shannon Airport, the only airport on the Atlantic seaboard serving all three key markets – the US, UK and Europe – and which has already achieved significant growth following its establishment as an independent company in January 2013 · Shannon Commercial Enterprises Limited, trading as Shannon Commercial Properties, which includes the Shannon Free Zone and a significant property portfolio across the Shannon region · One of Ireland’s …

Recently appointed Transport Minister,  Paschal Donohoe, made his first  official visit to Shannon Airport on Tuesday evening  where he was welcomed by chairman, Rose Hynes and CEO, Neil Pakey. The Minister was in Shannon as part of a day-long visit to Clare to launch Bus Éireann’s enhanced services to the Cliffs of Moher, Clare coast and the airport. Shannon Group Chairman Rose Hynes said, “We are very pleased to have been able to welcome Minister Donohoe to Shannon and brief him with regard to the progress we are making and the opportunities that lie ahead for Shannon. The minister was keen to hear about our plans and very much also recognises the key role it is already playing in the ongoing economic recovery of the region.” In welcoming  Minister Donohoe and  Bus Éireann CEO, Martin Nolan, Mr Pakey said, “We look forward to working with Minister Donohoe to ensure the momentum already achieved here since the airport achieved independence in January of last year is continued. We recognise the key role …

Ryanair  it is to strengthen its winter schedule from Shannon Airport with the addition of further capacity from the end of October. The airline announced  that it is to add a daily Manchester service, replacing a three times weekly Liverpool service, and a weekly Kaunas (Lithuania) flight, as well as extra flights on Stansted, to its winter schedule, starting the end of October. This will bring the total number of Ryanair services from Shannon to 11 this winter – six more than the 2013/2014 winter season. The new routes operated by Ryanair from Shannon this winter are Paris, Berlin, Fuerteventura, Warsaw, Krakow, Manchester and Kaunas.  These are in addition to their existing services to be Gatwick, Lanzarote, Stansted and Wroclaw. Speaking at the King John’s Castle visitor attraction this Thursday where the announcement was made, Shannon Airport CEO Neil Pakey said, “We welcome this further commitment by Ryanair to our upcoming winter schedule, which includes an excellent mix of inbound …

Shannon Airport has always enjoyed a lot of goodwill from the people of Clare and now an attempt is being made to harness that support in a formal way. A meeting will take place at the airport on Wednesday, July 16, to which anyone who may be interested in becoming part of a new independent voluntary support group is invited. Shannon’s chief executive, Neil Pakey was previously managing director of Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and representatives of Friends of Liverpool Airport will be at the event to answer questions on how they operate and how a similar Shannon organisation might be structured. Mr Pakey will chair the meeting. He said there is a special connection between the people of the Mid-West Region and its airport. “There is a quite unique relationship between the region here and their airport. The public sees Shannon as much more than an airport; it is a central pillar for the wider region. There has been …