Handling of Shannon flights loss questioned

Joe Gill, aviation analyst with Bloxham Stockbrokers made headlines recently when he stated that Shannon Airport was in “utter crisis”.

Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, he said that Shannon had been left more exposed than other airports to Ryanair cuts, but he said more could have been done to prevent the loss of services.
Shannon was particularly reliant on Ryanair, Mr Gill commented. “The number of commercial flights have fallen steeply. After the withdrawal by Ryanair on routes there wasn’t much else left on short haul. In Cork there is Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Aer Arann so if one moves there is still a share there.”
While he said Shannon had been very dependent on Ryanair, many airports around Europe, which have also relied on the low cost carrier, are still thriving. He felt that more should have been done to retain the lost services. “They needed to be more innovative and to think out of the box to make it more attractive. It’s not easy to serve the West of Ireland, the population isn’t huge and it’s seasonal because of the weather. There’s a need to be innovative and it strikes me that there wasn’t enough imagination or determination.”
Mr Gill said that he believes the country’s entire tourism strategy is very flawed, while he was scathing about the €10 travel. “Putting this tax on everyone who gets on a plane in Ireland effects capacity and demand. There is this nonsense view that it’s only €10 but if the average fare in the winter is €30 or €40 it will kill off a lot of demand and have a very negative effect. The whole strategy is askew.”
He said that there had been a reduction of around 25% in the number of people coming into Ireland by air over the last couple of years and removing the tax was one of a series of positive steps that could be taken.
He said that having US Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance at Shannon is very positive, although he acknowledged it may not have had much of an impact so far, because of the crisis facing the industry.
Mr Gill said it was important that steps be taken in the coming months to boost tourism in 2011. “At a broad level work is needed on providing accommodation, food and drink at prices that are competitive internationally. There is a need for initiatives to stimulate things looking to 2011. The Government could bring a package before the end of the year, with things like removing the €10 tax, low airport charges and other incentives. That would give something that could then be marketed.”