Shannon Airport counts cost of closure

SHANNON Airport lost a huge amount of revenue after being effectively closed from last Thursday to Tuesday.

At a time when the airport is already struggling, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano meant around 213 flights in and out of Shannon were cancelled, which would have brought around an estimated 27,000 passengers through the airport.
Operations at the airport finally resumed on Tuesday evening shortly before 7.30pm, when an Aer Lingus flight carrying passengers who had been holidaying in Tenerife landed. Following this, five British Airways flights touched down later in the evening.
On Wednesday, Shannon began the process of returning to normal. Aer Lingus flights through Shannon are expected to operate ordinarily from Thursday, while Ryanair are set to resume flights through Shannon on Friday. British Airways flights (which stop in Shannon en route from London to New York) have resumed, while Continental flights are expected to return to normal very shortly.
The overall cost of the disruption to Shannon hasn’t been quantified but across the three State airports – Cork, Dublin and Shannon – it’s estimated that the Dublin Airport Authority, which controls all three, lost approximately €1 million each day of the closure.
It was also a blow for the European aviation sector and a struggling Irish tourism industry.
Deputy Pat Breen said the disruption had caused serious and unwelcome disruption. “The absence of aircraft in the skies over Clare last weekend is a reminder to us all of the importance of the airport. The fact that no planes were landing at Shannon was a body blow to the tourism and business communities in the county, who were already struggling.
“Over the next few days, I hope that those Clare people who have been left stranded at airports all over the world will be accommodated and that they will finally be able to make it back home.”