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EDITORIAL: Aer Lingus’ 2014 gift

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EDITORIAL

 

AER Lingus has delivered an early and valuable 2014 New Year’s gift to Shannon Airport. The carrier is to increase its existing Boston and New York flights to daily services – the former from January 6 and the latter from the end of March.

This is part of an overall growth plan that will bring the Aer Lingus long-haul schedule to 10 daily transatlantic services, connecting Ireland and Europe with cities throughout North America. The plan, it is anticipated, will directly support more than 200 new jobs, divided between Dublin and Shannon.

In addition to its existing services to Boston, Chicago, New York and Orlando, the airline will commence year-round direct service between Dublin and San Francisco from April 2014, with five services per week.
Aer Lingus will also commence a direct year-round service to Canada from April 2014. A daily direct Boeing B757 service between Dublin and Toronto will operate during the summer season, with up to four weekly services operating during the winter.

In addition to direct access to San Francisco, Aer Lingus customers travelling from a number of UK and European cities via Dublin will benefit from a wide choice of onwards connections to 16 popular cities on the West Coast and beyond, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego.

Over the years, there has, at times, been something of a roller-coaster relationship between Aer Lingus and Shannon Airport. There has often been tension between the parties over routes and schedules, with claims and counter-claims about the airline’s commitment or otherwise to Shannon.

Now, the new Shannon Airport Authority is dealing with Aer Lingus from a fresh perspective. There’s no old baggage to upset matters. Things are looking up.

The airline’s year-round link between Shannon and the prime New York and Boston hubs, to be launched in 2014, will provide an opportunity to broaden the scope for persuading transatlantic passengers to fly into the Clare airport. It is estimated the expanded services have the potential to deliver over 50,000 more transatlantic passengers.

The introduction of two Boeing B757 aircraft, based in Shannon, will be used to deliver increased frequency on both routes. Year-round connections from Shannon to the US East Coast will also be introduced.

This welcome news comes as Shannon Airport enjoys very healthy transatlantic summer 2013 statistics. When the Shannon summer passenger services figures are totted up, it is expected there will be an increase of up to 25%. This is quite a turnabout from the situation a few years ago, when there were grave fears as to where the slide would end.

The resumption of the Philadelphia and Chicago links with Shannon in recent months has had a significant impact not only on revenue for the airport but also on the region. There has been a noticeable increase in Americans through the airport, many of whom are choosing to spend time in Clare on the inward or outward part of their holiday.

Coach tours and car hire number plates are a welcome sight for all in the tourism sector in Clare.  Loop Head’s recognition as the best place to holiday in Ireland has given an added dimension to the county’s holiday portfolio, while the revamped visitor attractions at St John’s Castle in Limerick have big pulling power for the Mid-West since its reopening.

“To have Aer Lingus make this very strong commitment for 2014 is another hugely positive development for Shannon and, particularly, for passengers seeking access on transatlantic services,” airport chief executive, Neil Pakey said. “The decision confirms the very strong market there is for transatlantic services at Shannon.”

“Shannon Airport, which is one of only two airports in the country with flights to and from the US and Canada, services a region from Cork right up to the North-West, so this is a very significant announcement. It will see Aer Lingus carry up to an additional 50,000 passengers between Shannon and the US in 2014, so we thank them very much for this commitment,” said Mr Pakey.

Most of the passengers will be Americans and, overall, there should be around 177,000 on the two routes in 2014, while this could rise to over 210,000 in 2015.

Airport chairperson Rose Hynes is happy that figures are moving in the right direction and that “the rot has finally stopped”.

The buzz created by Aer Lingus’ major commitment to Shannon is something that can be built upon; something that tells other airlines that Shannon is a good place to invest in.

All involved in negotiating the Aer Lingus deal for both Shannon and Dublin should be applauded. The tourism promoters must now step in to redouble their efforts to sell Ireland to the North American market, from coast to coast.

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