The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Owen Ryan
SHANNON Airport showed a significant year-on-year improvement airports in February, according to figures from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
According to the IAA figures commercial terminal flights at Shannon were up by 10.9% last month, when compared with February of 2013.
There were 1,122 enroute and airport commercial movements at Shannon last month, up from 1,012 in February last year.
While Dublin also showed growth in February, Cork had a 5.3% drop when compared with February 2013. With Shannon rising and Cork falling the gap between the two airports narrowed considerably last month, with a difference of 352 movements last year cut to 170 in February 2014.
In a statement the IAA said that terminal traffic (journeys that begin and end at an airport) at Shannon and Dublin is set to improve in the near future. “New airline services at Dublin and Shannon are set to boost Irish terminal air traffic. In particular, Dublin traffic will be boosted by a number of additional routes to Canada. In April, Aer Lingus will begin non-stop flights between Dublin and Toronto, seven times per week with a Boeing 757 aircraft. WestJet will also start daily service on June 15 with Boeing 737-700 from St John’s to Dublin, with connecting services from several other Canadian destinations.
“Shannon air traffic is likewise set to see continuing increases, with Ryanair announcing a number of new routes for the summer, including Berlin, Paris, Fuerteventura, Warsaw, Faro, Munich, Nice and Krakow.
“The positive news is against a backdrop of already promising terminal air traffic figures, with total traffic increasing at State airports by 6.2% in February 2014 when compared to February 2013.”
It said the start of 2014 has been quite positive for Irish aviation. “On a cumulative basis, commercial terminal traffic for Shannon, Dublin and Cork airports for the period January-February 2014 was up by 6.4% when compared to the same period in 2013.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
