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Shannon benefits from Dublin charter woes but could do more

A US-BASED aircraft charter company has sent some flights through Shannon due to issues at Dublin, but is disappointed that even more can’t be accommodated at the Clare airport. Peter Le Bas, the CEO of California-based Le Bas International, was himself based in Shannon for a number of years. He said that while some planes that had been due to go through Dublin are going to Shannon, he is disappointed that even more can’t use the airport. “We’ve got a couple of flights coming into Shannon this Saturday, we would have had six into Shannon if we could, but they could only handle two of the six, which was a shame really. Kerry Airport handled the majority of them. “It was a bit of a shock for us that we couldn’t get into Dublin originally, it was the first time in 32 years to book a flight into the handling of an airport in advance and you just don’t get …

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Varadkar coming to Shannon on Friday

AN Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will officially open the Future Mobility Campus Ireland (FMCI) in Shannon Free Zone on Friday.  Mr Varadkar will be given a tour of the facility and see some of the new products that are being developed. The facility is for the development of things such as driverless cars, air taxis and drones to deliver life saving organs or drugs, as well as the air traffic technology to manage them – including ‘on the ground’ traffic, and other life-changing ‘the future is now’ technologies for use in Ireland and internationally.   Some of these will be on display at the official opening including a self-parking car and the latest Tesla which guests can test drive. Funded by Enterprise Ireland and industry partners, the unique FMCI campus at Shannon has world class facilities for aerospace and automotive research and development, including a recently opened Advanced Air Mobility Hub.  The commercially-viable facility supports a range of parties and enterprises, from …

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Rovers enjoy smooth passage through Europe…and Shannon

THE country’s most successful soccer club, Shamrock Rovers is a Dublin institution. However, when the club had an away tie in the first qualification round of the Champions League this week, the Hoops ended up flying from Shannon rather than from the capital, even though it is 188km further from their ground than Dublin Airport. The club spent over €100,000 on chartering a flight to Malta for their second leg tie against Hibernians, but so congested was Dublin Airport that they couldn’t fly from there and had to go to Shannon instead. While it was unfortunate from the club’s point of view, it was yet more positive marketing for Shannon at a time when Dublin Airport is struggling to cope with the numbers using the airport, which is helping make the case that Irish aviation is far too centralised. Shannon Airport tweeted pictures of the Rovers squad at the airport and after wishing them well added, “It’s easier, faster and …

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Plane ‘with serious issues’ makes emergency landing at Shannon

A US-bound passenger jet that suffered ‘serious hydraulic issues’ soon after taking off from an airport in Scotland, has made and emergency landing at Shannon Airport. Delta Air Lines flight DL-123 took off from Edinburgh Airport at around 12.30pm bound for Boston in the United States. The Boeing 767-300(ER) jet had climbed to 33,000 feet and levelled off before the flight crew reported an issue with one of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems. The crew entered a holding pattern off the Scottish coast as they attempted to troubleshoot the problem. The aircraft circled for about 15 minutes before the crew decided to divert to Shannon which, at 3,199 metres, is the longest runway in Ireland. It’s understood that the issued involved the aircraft hydraulic system that operates a number of aircraft functions. The crew advised air traffic controllers that they would not be able to vacate the runway under the aircraft’s own power after landing as they believed they would not …

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Youth activities continuing through the summer in Shannon

IT may be high summer, but the usual activities are being run by Clare Youth Service in Shannon. “We’ve decided to continue on our programmes throughout the summer because the attendance at them is still quite high. Usually with people going away and doing different things you’d see a drop off, but because young people are still engaging with the programmes we’ve decided to keep them going and add in a few other ones,” said youth worker Thomas O’Hara. Young people about to start secondary school are being catered for, he said. “We’re starting our transition programme this week, our transistion to first year programme with groups of young people moving from sixth class to first year. That’s on Wednesday afternoons and it’s all based on discussions around what they can expect going into first year. We’ll be running through different communication games and exercises and stuff like that, a bit of team building and introducing them to the programmes …

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JLR Shannon EMPOWER engineers of the future

STUDENTS from across Clare and the MidWest have been inspired to develop creative, innovative and entrepreneurial skills for life as part of this year’s EMPOWER programme. The free programme, designed and developed by Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), saw Transition Year (TY) and Fifth Year students tasked with finding innovative solutions to some of the mobility challenges facing society. Now in its sixth year, the EMPOWER programme partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to give students a real hands-on approach to the tasks they faced. Held from June 7 to 17, the theme of this year’s programme was ‘The Future of Mobility’. The participating students spent a day at Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) R&D Software Engineering Centre in Shannon where they took part in a Hackathon, mentored by JLR engineers, to give students a first-person experience of handling their own Future of Mobility projects. According to Patricia O’Sullivan, Enterprise and Community Engagement Manager at MIC, this year’s programme was hugely successful. “EMPOWER …

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Alternative sites for Shannon NCT centre

CLARE Independent TD Michael McNamara has said he has received confirmation from the National Car Testing Service that two locations for an NCT centre have been identified in the Shannon area. In May the NCTS confirmed that the development of an NCT Centre at the Smithstown Industrial Estate Smithstown halted “due to significant contractual difficulties.” Deputy McNamara, who has been pressing for a second NCT Centre for County Clare, said he has received confirmation from the NCTS that two alternative locations have been identified. “Construction work on the new centre had already commenced at the Smithstown Industrial Estate as far back as last summer, including the erecting of the centre’s steel structure, and it was expected that the centre would be operational by the end of 2021,” he said. “It was disappointing to hear that the development would not be proceeding at the site. However, I am delighted to learn that two new site locations are currently being evaluated.” Deputy …

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Crowe floats hydrogen fuel farm idea for Shannon Airport

FIANNA Fáil spokesperson on Aviation Cathal Crowe is calling for strong consideration to be given to the establishment of a hydrogen fuel farm within the Shannon Airport complex. He said this would see the airport establish itself as a world leader in terms of sustainable aviation, at a time of significant change in the sector. The Clare TD said he had written to the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce, outlining his proposal to plan for a hydrogen fuel farm at Shannon Airport. “The Green Atlantic Windfarm planned off of the coast of Clare provides for a €50 million Synchronous Compensator, will convert electricity generated via the wind turbine infrastructure to storable hydrogen fuel. All of this will happen on site at Moneypoint, just 65km west of Shannon Airport. “Meanwhile, a fuel farm was developed at Shannon Airport in the 1970s and has the capacity to store 33,000 metric tonnes of aviation fuel. “It would make perfect sense for the hydrogen generated …

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