Passenger numbers soar in Shannon

Overall numbers increase 8% as airport breaks five-year decline, writes Owen Ryan

YEARS of decline at Shannon Airport were reversed last month as an increase in passenger numbers was recorded for the first time since 2008.

Earlier this month, Shannon Airport chairperson Rose Hynes said passenger numbers had started moving in the right direction and figures released by the airport on Tuesday backed up her predictions.

The airport showed an eight percent increase in passengers last month compared to June 2012, going from 148,531 to 160,573.
The addition of new routes to Chicago and Philadelphia contributed to a massive growth in transatlantic passenger numbers, which are up by 38% year-on-year. This is particularly good news for local tourism, as Americans are renowned for being far better spenders than Europeans.
While the increase in transatlantic numbers was huge, there was also an 18% increase on continental European routes. Major contributing factors were the return of Ryanair’s Alicante service and increased frequency on its Palma and Malaga routes, while Aer Lingus commenced a Shannon-Faro service.

Passenger numbers on services to-and-from Britain declined somewhat over the month, however.

The increase in passengers is welcome news for the airport after an extremely difficult five years. In 2006 and 2007, passenger numbers topped 3.6 million and, incredibly, in view of what has happened since, there was talk at the time of five million being reached in the future.

Once the economy turned, however, Shannon went into a steep decline. Passengers numbers fell by nearly half a million in 2008 and there was no respite on the horizon. They would continue to drop for the next four years and, in 2012, there were fewer than 1.4 million passengers, the lowest number since 1988, a time when air travel was far less accessible.

Meanwhile, research by Red C has found that Clare retains almost half of the US visitors that land in Shannon. A total of 46% of US tourists who entered the country at Shannon holiday in Clare, more than the number that holiday in any other county. Clare was followed by Kerry (43%), Galway (30%), Dublin (26%), Cork (24%) and Limerick (17%).

Speaking this week, Shannon Airport chief executive Neil Pakey said things are, at last, looking up.
“We are very encouraged by this increase. It is down in no small way to the hard work of our team in securing a range of new services and is a really good start to life as an independent airport.

“The growth in US passenger numbers is particularly encouraging for the local region as tourism estimates are that US visitors spend, on average, 60% more than other tourists in Ireland. Our catchment includes some of Ireland’s leading tourism counties such as Clare, Cork, Galway and Kerry.

“Having a significantly improved range of services this year, especially on transatlantic routes, is extremely important to the wider region we serve.

“We are also encouraged by the number of Shannon passengers now visiting Dublin. The region we serve offers a distinct Irish holiday experience but the quality of our road and public transport network now also enables visitors to access Dublin for one or two-night stays easily, while basing themselves here.”

Shannon has had a relatively good start to its existence as an independent airport and while passenger numbers may have declined for the first five months, a number of new services have been secured which will, hopefully, put the airport on a sustainable path.

The most recent announcement was that Aer Lingus will extend its services between Boston and New York next year, offering the potential for another 50,000 transatlantic passengers. Significantly, Aer Lingus is set to use smaller planes on the routes, which will make the services more sustainable.

The Irish Aviation Authority has also released statistics for June, sharing the amount of commercial flights at Shannon increased by 1% last month. This is a less significant indicator than passenger numbers, but it too is going in the right direction, after significant declines up until May.