Tag Archives: Shannon airport

JUST over 352,000 people used Shannon Airport in 2020, a 79% drop on 2019, Shannon Group has revealed. Shannon Group’s heritage sites, which include Bunratty and King John’s Castles, had 302,000 visitors last year, which was down by almost 69% on 2019. CEO of Shannon Group Mary Considine said that while Covid-19 did huge damage to its business, there is a basis for recovery. “Covid-19 had a devastating impact on two of our three business operations, but with the right supports, the foundations for recovery exist within Shannon Group, namely our improved core airport infrastructure, vibrant property portfolio, strong tourism offering and vibrant aviation cluster.” Aviation is on the floor now, but she says there are positive signs for Shannon. ““With Ryanair set to reopen its base and operate 14 new routes from Shannon for Summer ’21 there are green shoots, but we recognise that recovery will be slow, rebuilding will take time, but we will get there. Crucial to …

THE reopening of Ryanair’s base in Shannon Airport on April 21 has been lauded as a major boost for tourism-related businesses throughout Clare, which have been very badly hit by Covid-19. Speaking to the Clare Champion in Shannon Airport, Shannon Group chief executive officer, Mary Considine said the recommencement of 14 routes from Shannon next April is a “big boost for business in the region”. “Talking to businesses, they need to get their people back out travelling in the market place once it is safe to do so. “We have seen first hand the devastation caused not only by the pandemic but the lack of international visitors into the country and the impact it has had on all these businesses. “There will be a lot of hoteliers, tourism and hospitality providers who will be relieved to see this Ryanair base is back and that we have some services next year. “As we rebuild from the devastation of the pandemic this …

RYANAIR has delivered an early “Christmas present” to Shannon Airport following its decision to re-open its base with one aircraft and the recommencement of 14 routes from April 1. According to Ryanair, a new five-year deal on airport charges, which was finalised between the Shannon Group and the airline in recent days, will create more than 330 direct and indirect jobs. Ryanair will reopen its Shannon base and operate 14 routes from Shannon for summer 2021 from Shannon Airport to the following destinations in 2021: Alicante, Barcelona-Reus, Faro, Krakow, Kaunas, Lanzarote, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Malaga, Manchester, Palma, Tenerife, Warsaw and Wroclaw. Last October, Shannon Airport was dealt a hammer blow when Ryanair announced it was closing its Shannon base for the winter months. With transatlantic closed down already and the Shannon-Heathrow route also suspended, Shannon Airport only has a very small number of scheduled passenger flights per week. In an interview with the Clare Champion, chief executive officer, Mary …

DURING a previous crisis Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary made a typically exaggerated claim that tumbleweed would be blowing through Shannon Airport, so quiet would it become, but even O’Leary couldn’t have foreseen what it would be like in the winter of 2020. With no scheduled flights at all in operation, the airport still remains open, but there is virtually nothing happening there. It still gets some cargo flights and some transit, but the terminal building is nearly vacant. Only a handful of people, nearly all of them employed on the premises, were there on Wednesday morning. Huge areas were entirely vacant, while screens showing arrivals and departures were bare, while the check in areas were closed. The restaurant on the ground floor was open for takeaways, but there was little demand there. At the newsagents across from it, the sole worker there had the shelves and coolers perfectly stocked, but he was a solitary figure on the premises until the …

THE Government has this week promised a major financial injection to Shannon and Cork Airports, both of which are reeling due to the impact of Covid-19. On Tuesday, the Department of Transport announced a revised €80 million funding package for Irish aviation. Shannon and Cork will share operational and capital funding supports of €22 million, of which Shannon will receive around €8.4 million. In a statement the department said, “In recognition of the very difficult winter season being faced by the aviation sector the government has decided to provide an extra €48 million in supports for 2021, in addition to those announced in Budget 2021. “The Department of Transport will provide further operational and capital funding supports of €22m for Cork and Shannon Airport, which is in addition to the €10m in capital funding announced in Budget 2021.” For years Shannon was precluded from receiving support from the State, but smaller airports such as Knock and Kerry were eligible for …

THERE is a “reasonable chance” that Ryanair won’t reopen its Cork and Shannon bases next summer, the airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport last week. He also slammed what he feels is a slow response to the crisis from Ireland. “Looking at Cork and Shannon, I would say that the mood among our staff is utterly despondent as to what is going on and how it was allowed to happen without any intervention. We have more than 80 locations throughout Europe where our aircraft are based, similar to Cork and Shannon, and we must make commercial decisions about all of them. This limping along is not going to do anything for anybody. Life will be difficult enough as Europe works its ways through the current spike of infections and until confidence returns at some point with the introduction of a vaccine. It is hard to get across how truly extraordinary it is that this country …

WITH pubs closed again due to the Level 5 lockdown, the fear is some will never be able to reopen their doors, according to the Clare Vintners Association. Clare VFI chairman Darragh McAllister said it was a “kick in the guts” for those businesses that had spent a lot of time, effort and money during the first lockdown preparing for a chance to trade under new restrictions. He also raised fears of a rolling lockdown scenario and whether publicans would even get the badly needed boon of a window around Christmas to make up for lost trade during the year. “It’s very disappointing and it’s a real kick in the guts after such a short opening, “There was a lot of work done in the six months we were locked down to get ready for the restrictions after we reopened. People went to a lot of expense and trouble in anticipation of that. “We only had it for two weeks …

ALREADY struggling, Shannon’s woes were compounded on Wednesday, as it emerged that Ryanair will now have no flights to or from the airport between November 14 and December 12. With Aer Lingus having pulled its Heathrow service, and transatlantic services not running either, it means Shannon will be without any scheduled passenger services at all for a number of weeks, although it will still be open to service cargo, general aviation, transit business and hangar movements. It puts Shannon at one of the lowest ebbs in its history and on Wednesday it also emerged that the strategically crucial Heathrow service won’t be returned until April at the earliest. Reacting to the decision, Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said, “We are extremely disappointed with the news; it is a further illustration of the devastating impact of the pandemic on the aviation sector. This latest development effectively means we will have no scheduled services at Shannon for a month.” She said the …