Summer schedule takes flight at Shannon

GAA stars Lar Corbett and Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper were in Shannon over the Bank Holiday Weekend for the launch of the airport’s summer season.

 

In all, 33 destinations will be served this summer from Shannon, among them five new services, two in the US (Chicago and Philadelphia), two in mainland Europe (Alicante and Faro) and one in the UK (Glasgow).

Among the 33 destinations are six hub airports (Chicago, Boston, Heathrow, JFK, Philadelphia and Newark) offering passengers one-stop connectivity to thousands of other airports across the world.
In addition to the five new services, four existing routes will see additional frequencies.

This summer is set to see a 22% rise in transatlantic numbers. There are five US destinations from Shannon for the first time since 2009, one of just two airports in Ireland offering such services.

Shannon will be connected to 19 airports on continental Europe, seven in France, six in Spain, two in Turkey and one each in Croatia, Poland, Switzerland and Portugal. Passenger numbers on European services are expected to increase by 10%. With regard to Britain, eight airports in five cities (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester) will be served.

Airport director Mary Considine said options for passengers have improved since Shannon received its independence at the end of last year.

“The advances already made, with new routes to very attractive destinations as well as greater frequencies on other popular services, are a real boost for the airport and particularly for passengers at Shannon. Growing the range of services for passengers was one of our key priorities when we set out in January. The more routes we secure, the more people will opt for Shannon because it is such an accessible, convenient and easy-to-use airport.”

Delta will recommence their seasonal Shannon-JFK service on May 11. It will operate daily during the summer using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 170 seats in conjunction with the airline’s joint venture partner, Air France-KLM.

“Our non-stop summer service increases passenger choice to and from the US and the west coast of Ireland, supporting travel for thousands of holidaymakers and helping to give a boost to the local economy,” said Perry Cantarutti, the airline’s senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“Delta is offering customers even more travel options to popular destinations such as San Francisco, Orlando and Las Vegas and we are already seeing very positive booking figures for the summer months.”

Last year Delta carried 47,486 passengers on the summer service, with an average load factor of 91%.
Ms Considine was positive about the resumption of the seasonal service. “Having Delta back on our summer schedule is another significant boost to transatlantic services at Shannon and to passengers seeking to travel to and from JFK. The fact that they have a load factor of 91% says a lot about the popularity of the service and the ease and convenience of using Shannon Airport.”