Tag Archives: Shannon airport

THIS week’s National Development Plan has promised that more support will be made available to Shannon Airport going forward. “In line with the 2015 ‘National Aviation Policy for Ireland’, Cork and Shannon Airports will continue to be supported in their roles as key tourism and business gateways for their regions, particularly with regard to the development of niche markets,” the report stated. It said that Shannon may soon be able to access funding that up until now was reserved for smaller competitors. “Airports that facilitate international connectivity, and handle less than 1 million annual passengers, are eligible to apply for grant aid under the new 2021 – 2025 Programme. “Eligible airports include Donegal, Kerry and Ireland West (Knock). However, given the impacts of Covid on passenger numbers, Shannon and Cork airports are likely to be eligible for funding under this Programme in 2022 and potentially 2023.” It also said that aviation will be encouraged to wean itself off fossil fuels. …

A NEWLY filed financial statement from the Shannon Airport Authority illustrates the damage done in a disastrous 2020. Turnover had been €46 million in 2019, but it fell to €17.3 million in 2020. While there had been a profit of €2.7 million in 2019, last year saw a loss of €9 million before exceptional items and of €36.6 million when they were included. The exceptional items included expenditure of just over €3 million on a voluntary severance scheme and a loss of almost €24.5 million related to an impairment of fixed assets. While the financial performance was way back on 2019, the directors felt things could have been worse. “The Board is satisfied with the financial performance of the company in 2020 given the catastrophic impact of Covid-19.” It noted that passenger numbers had fallen dramatically. “Passenger numbers of 350k were down 80.2 when compared to 2019. It was an unprecedented year for the aviation sector given the global impact …

WITH Shannon Airport facing a huge challenge to recover traffic, the Oireacthas Joint Committee on Transport Committee is to suggest that Padraig Ó Céidigh be invited to be the full time chair of Shannon Group, expanding on the part time non executive role to which he is being appointed. Mr Ó Céidigh appeared before the committee today and was quite positive about a proposal from Senator Timmy Dooley that Shannon look at starting its own airline, The Fianna Fáil Senator asked “Is it now time for Shannon Airport to look at owning its own airline, to setting up an airline to serve routes that aren’t already served?” He said it would initially be a small airline, and that aircraft can be obtained relatively cheaply. “It certainly could be done in conjunction with the leasing companies. I think they’d give very favourable rates in the short term.” Mr Ó Céidigh, who bought Aer Arann in 1994 before expanding it dramatically, praised …

Shortlist of five candidates interviewed by Ministers Ryan and Naughton FIVE people were in the final round of interviews for the position of chair of Shannon Group and a decision is expected by the end of September. Responding to questions from Clare TDs Cathal Crowe and Violet Anne Wynne, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan told the Dáil the process of appointing a new person to the position, which has been vacant for more than a year, is in its final stages. “The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and I have recently concluded interviews for potential candidates, who were proposed by the Public Appointments Service. “All five people we interviewed were eminently qualified, which makes for a difficult decision. We hope to conclude that process within the coming days, and return to the Government and then to the Dáil with details of the appointment of a suitable chair. “I am confident that we will be able to get someone who is very …

THE runway at Shannon Airport was closed for almost two hours this afternoon after a business aircraft suffered a burst tyre on landing, reports Pat Flynn. The privately owned Pilatus PC-12 was left disabled on the runway after landing at around midday. It’s understood that the crew had been undergoing flight training at the airport at the time of the incident. The crew of the single-engine turbo-prop aircraft carried out aborted take-off and missed approach procedures before taking off and entering a training circuit and returning to land again. After landing again at around 12.18pm, the left side main landing gear tyre burst but the plane was brought to a safe stop by the crew. The runway however was left closed while the plane remained disabled. Airport operations personnel and an airport fire and rescue service vehicle responded to the incident. One inbound aircraft, a Ryanair flight from Kaunas, had to divert to Dublin while the aircraft was left disabled …

THE first Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to London in 18 months took off from the Clare airport this afternoon. Arrival times from London into Shannon are 16:10 on Monday through Friday and Sunday, with arrival time on Saturdays scheduled for 15:45. The service will operate for ten weeks during the closure of Cork Airport for runway upgrade works. Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said it was great to see the service back in what has been and continues to be an extremely difficult period for the aviation sector. “The connectivity provided by Aer Lingus at Shannon has always been a valuable contributor to the regional economy,” said Ms Considine. “The hub status of Heathrow for businesses to connect with the global marketplace is crucial, and the inbound Heathrow service helps drive tourism into the region.” “We are working closely with Aer Lingus and our other airline partners to build on the service and to resume long-haul services,” she added. …

THE Shannon Group CEO has called for the public to use and support Aer Lingus’ Heathrow service from Clare’s airport as much as possible to ensure the route’s long-term future. Mary Considine was speaking this Wednesday ahead of the return of the Aer Lingus London Heathrow service to Shannon Airport on September 13. “It is great to see the Heathrow service return to Shannon in what has been, and continues to be, an extremely difficult period for the aviation sector,” said Ms Considine. “We will be working closely with Aer Lingus to build the service and to resume long-haul services, however, airlines make decisions on routes based on a number of factors, one of the most important of which is how many passengers will travel on their flight. “The best way to ensure the Heathrow service and indeed other routes, remain for the long term is for people to support them. “We have already seen encouraging up-take for the range …

WITH the Taliban extending their sphere of control almost immediately after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, there has been more criticism of the use of Shannon Airport by the US army. Sinn Féin Senator Paul Gavan said that Ireland has been complicit in the situation. “The history of Afghanistan has been one of tragedy for many decades now. “The US has left a legacy of chaos and carnage behind them, and successive Irish governments should reflect on how their betrayal of Irish neutrality facilitated this. “According to data from Harvard University and the Brown University Costs of War project, 172,000 people have died directly as a result of the war waged by US forces. This figure does not include thousands more who died as an indirect result of the conflict due to displacement and disease, or the hundreds of thousands more people forced to flee as refugees. “Many of those US forces made their way to that war via Shannon …