Tag Archives: Shannon airport

Budget airline’s CEO has harsh words for government over aviation recovery policy RYANAIR launched eight new Shannon routes last Thursday morning and said it will carry more passengers to and from the airport over the next year than it did in 2019, before Covid struck. The airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson praised Shannon Airport’s management for being proactive in securing new services, and estimated around one million people will fly with Ryanair to and from Shannon in the next 12 months, up by around 25% on the 2019 figure. It announced six new services for the winter 2021 season, to London-Luton, Budapest, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Fuerteventura and Turin. New services already in place for the summer include Corfu and Gran Canaria. While there has been some criticism of Shannon’s separation from the other State airports in recent times, Mr Wilson said the deal wouldn’t have been possible had it still been part of the DAA group, with Dublin and Cork. “You have …

CONTACTS between An Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Shannon Aer Lingus workers who are being laid off are understood to be continuing following an initial meeting, writes Owen Ryan. While Aer Lingus have been adamant that there will be no rethink on the closure of the Shannon cabin crew base, there has been a little optimism since the meeting between the Taoiseach and workers took place, with one source saying there is still a “smallish chance” of a rethink. Speaking on Wednesday, Clare TD Cathal Crowe said that the meeting between the Taoiseach and the workers had been satisfactory. “The meeting went well. It lasted for an hour and a half, which was much longer than all in attendance had expected. “The staff said that the Taoiseach had given a very sympathetic and listening ear, he understood where they were coming from, he listened to many of the reasons they gave as to why this permanent closure is unfair and unwarranted. …

TUESDAY saw the inaugural Ryanair Shannon-Corfu service, which will continue twice a week until the end of October. Also, on this Saturday a new weekly Ryanair service to Gran Canaria (Las Palmas) begins. Passengers on the first Corfu bound flight enjoyed a pre-departure reception in the airport’s transit lounge which was decorated in festive style. A special water cannon salute by the airport’s fire service added an extra sense of occasion on Tuesday, as airport staff welcomed passengers and looked after them throughout their time in the airport. Welcoming the new air services Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Group, which owns and manages Shannon Airport said: “The global pandemic has had a huge impact on all our lives and being able to once again welcome our passengers as they take to the skies bound for sun drenched holiday destinations is really wonderful. “We’ve really missed the interaction with our passengers and since the lifting of the ban on international travel, we …

‘ELECTRIC Airport’ designation should be sought for Shannon, according to a member of the local authority. Councillor Johnny Flynn tabled a motion at the July meeting of the council asking that the government and Shannon Group be urged to plan for the use of green electricity at the facility. He said the move would help Ireland to meet its climate action targets in reducing emissions from the aviation sector and help secure the future of Shannon Airport. “We all know how important Shannon Airport is and that it contributes €3.6bn to Ireland’s GDP, supporting 43,700 jobs,” the Fine Gael member outlined. “We also know that aviation has to change and to decarbonise. There are a number of Irish companies involved in developing electric planes and we should be building the infrastructure. We know that aviation will have to green its processes.” The motion was seconded by Cathaoirleach, Councillor PJ Ryan. Councillor Pat McMahon also gave his support, saying that the …

FREE parking at Shannon Airport has been proposed by the Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, as part of a bid to revive tourism and increase traffic through the Midwest airport. Councillor PJ Ryan received huge support for this call, at the July meeting of the local authority, for an incentive to use Shannon Airport over the likes of Dublin and other facilities. “It is crucial that central government support Shannon,” he said. “There are measure that we can look at on the ground and free parking could be one of those,” The motion was welcomed by Councillor Ann Norton. “Anything that can get people into Shannon Airport is something we should look at,” the Independent member said. “There was great excitement in our house with Ryanair’s Turin service. That will mean people can go skiing in the winter and any opportunity to get Shannon off the ground again is welcome. It’s great to have an international airport on our doorstep …

INTERNATIONAL travel is resuming and with Shannon facing an uncertain future, local advocacy group Save Our Shannon (SOS) will hold a protest on July 24 at O’Connell Square in Ennis. The rally is to take place from mid-day. They are calling on the Government to change aviation policy and to introduce measures that will encourage airlines and passengers to use Shannon. SOS chairman Denis Vaughan said, “We demand new Government Aviation Policy, which includes Shannon. Save our Shannon rally this Saturday at 12pm in the square in Ennis. Guest speakers.@Fallshotel @CliffsOfMoher_ @eastclare10k @CratloeGAAClub @gaeilnasionna @GreyHeronMedia @VirginMediaNews @rtenews @NewstalkFM @johncookeradio @oconnellbrian pic.twitter.com/2EtysVOrqw — Radio Beams (@HayesEnnis) July 21, 2021 “The post Covid Government need to incentivise airlines and passengers to use Shannon Airport. The government should be looking at doing what it can to force Aer Lingus back to Shannon. After all, Ireland subsidises the airline.” Mr Vaughan continued, “Dublin Airport increased its passenger numbers in 2019 by 13.8 million whilst …

WITH non-essential international travel resuming this morning, a new route out of Shannon Airport to the Canary Islands has been announced. Ryanair will run a new service to Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), beginning on August 7, that will operate once a week until the end of October. Welcoming the announcement Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Group said: “As we rebuild from the devastation of the pandemic this is a positive announcement for the region. Ryanair is a valued airline partner of Shannon and this latest announcement, following on from the new Corfu and Turin services, is great news. “We have been working closely with Ryanair as we look to an anticipated recovery in demand on foot of the rollout of the EU Digital Covid Certificates and the acceleration of the vaccination programme across Europe. These new services are part of Ryanair’s commitment to reopen its Shannon base which is very welcome. ✈️ ROUTE NEWS ✈️ Ryanair announce today a new service …

WHEN non-essential international travel resumes next week it will be the most significant step forward for crisis-stricken Shannon Airport since Covid-19 arrived last year. The airport faces a very difficult path back to sustainability, as airports away from major cities are likely to be much slower to recover. Nevertheless, the recovery is at least beginning, and CEO Mary Considine said there is something to be positive about now. “There is an air of optimism around the place. Next week, with the lifting of the ban on non essential travel and the adoption of the Covid digital cert, these are important milestones,” she told The Clare Champion. “We have a very long road back to recovery to anything like pre pandemic levels of traffic, but it’s important to recognise that this is a significant step.” Around 40 staff availed of redundancy during the pandemic, while many others have had reduced working hours, but some of those reductions are being reversed as …