The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
SHANNON Airport enjoyed a great first half of 2014 with 16 service enhancements, including nine new Ryanair routes for the summer season, resulting in a 15% increase in terminal passenger numbers, latest figures show.
A break down of figures revealed at Shannon Airport-Ryanair Travel Clinic in Bunratty to promote the airline’s winter schedule, complete with five additional services on last year’s schedule, showed that passenger numbers on European routes have enjoyed a 54% uplift in the first half of the year.
Overall terminal passenger numbers through Shannon in the first half of the year were 653,894, up from 568,133 in the same period in 2013.
As well as European figures improving, there was a five per cent increase in the number of Shannon-UK passengers while transatlantic numbers were up by 11%.
Shannon Airport Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Murphy said; “We are really happy with the passenger numbers so far this year. We worked hard with our airline partners to secure the new services and there has been a really positive response from the public.
“We have made huge strides this year in meeting the demand for services to and from Shannon with the nine new routes for the summer season. We are also looking at a better upcoming winter season thanks to the five additional services that Ryanair have announced. The significant increases in services are very timely this year with the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way. Shannon is the only airport on the route with services from all three key markets, the US, UK and Europe. If Shannon is going well, it bodes well for the future.”
Ryanair’s head of sales and marketing Peter Bellew said; “Ryanair is delighted to celebrate record growth at Shannon Airport with 18 routes which will deliver 750,000 customers for 2014. Ryanair’s nine new summer routes to and from Berlin, Faro, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Memmingen, Nice, Paris Beauvais, Poitiers and Warsaw Modlin and five new winter routes to and from Berlin, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Paris Beauvais and Warsaw, will deliver over 300,000 additional passengers at Shannon Airport.”
