THE disruption from the industrial action at Aer Lingus will hit Shannon this weekend, but the vast majority of the impact is at Dublin.
A list has been provided by Aer Lingus of flights to be hit in the coming days. In terms of Shannon, two services to Heathrow on Saturday have been cancelled, as have two services in the opposite direction, from Heathrow to Shannon.
While the impact isn’t too severe on Clare at the moment, Allen Flynn of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis said it is a serious worry.
“Most definitely. It has already been a challenging year to date and any disruption to flights coming into Shannon will have a detrimental effect on the business and the region.”
While they haven’t been affected yet, Aer Lingus operates services to Boston and New York which are vital for Clare tourism, and Mr Flynn said that disruption to those would be very serious. “With every transatlantic flight the majority of the people, if they are tourists, will have their first or last night in the Clare region, so any loss there will have a huge effect.”
American visitors are hugely important to local tourism, he added.
“Transatlantic is the lifeline for the region, certainly for the summer season and right up to the end of October.”
He estimated that Americans could make up 60-70% of the tourism market in the region during the summer.
Mr Flynn said it is very important that meaningful negotiations happen quickly.
“You would hope that both parties would be willing to sit across from the table and negotiate. The public have spoken in that it is causing incredible disruption at this time of year, it’s the maximum disruption possible really. It’s the Irish holiday market going abroad and the incoming tourism as well, so it’s the maximum disruption. We should avoid it at all costs if we can.”
Dermot Kelly of the Shannon Springs, said there has been some impact, but it hasn’t been too severe as of yet. “We are seeing some cancellations, but it’s more people trying to change dates.”
He said that a resolution to the dispute would be hugely welcome. “Even if they could set it aside and get on with the talks it’d be great.
“It’s just damaging for the country. People are coming to Ireland and if they hear there is a strike it puts them on edge.
“There is a certain age bracket who like things to be planned, and the knock on effect may be that they go to another part of Europe or not go anywhere. It could have an impact all along the Wild Atlantic Way, all the businesses would be affected by a decrease in footfall during the peak season.”
Members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association are currently engaging in a work to rule, while there will be an eight hour strike on this Saturday.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.