Tag Archives: Shannon airport

CLARE TD Michael McNamara said that the Taoiseach was “telling fibs”, in the Dáil last week. A fractious exchange followed when Deputy McNamara claimed that Ireland is not implementing existing EU law. “In response to the crisis in the aviation sector generally, and Shannon Airport in particular, many of the Ministers, and indeed backbenchers, said that the digital green pass would be the panacea. I have the regulation introducing it. It came into effect on July 1. The State does not have six weeks to begin implementing it; it has six weeks to implement it completely. “Crucially, as of July 1, the State must issue certificates to people who have been vaccinated, who have recovered or who have been tested, not in the agreed format, but so that they can travel. Instead, the Ministers have increased the ban on non-essential foreign travel in contravention of that. Does the Government adhere to the rule of law and the belief in the …

Banner’s Oireachtas members criticised by mayor for ‘deafening silence’ over Shannon and Aer Lingus situation CLARE Oireachtas members were criticised by the county mayor for what she said was their “defeaning silence” on Shannon and Aer Lingus With Aer Lingus having announced the closure of its Shannon cabin crew base and declining to give any indication of when services from the airport will resume, there was lengthy discussion of the situation at Monday’s Clare County Council meeting. Mayor of Clare Mary Howard called on the county’s Oireachtas members to fight for the airport. “The silence within the county was deafening from our Oireachtas members was deafening and we’ve never had as many Oireachtas members in the past,” she claimed. “There’s nobody talking about Shannon, nobody talking about Aer Lingus. They’re (Aer Lingus) looking for a subvention and if they do get one there needs to be strings attached, that the Heathrow slots are safe, that they originate in Shannon and …

ON Tuesday Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said that a taskforce looking at the Shannon region’s economic potential and challenges will be set up. However, it now seems that the taskforce will be related to Shannon Estuary rather than Shannon Airport and the adjacent industires, which had seemed to be the case when he was speaking on Morning Irleand. While being interviewed, the Minister was asked about the setbacks at Shannon and the jobs at Lufthansa Technik, and he said, “I have been in contact with people in the area who are very concerned, and this has been an ongoing concern. “We are going to have to do a whole range of different projects in Shannon particularly, it’s the wider industrial estate, it’s not just the airport, it’s the jobs that come with it. “The Government are going to be setting up a Shannon taskforce, looking at the whole wider region, looking at the whole Shannon area. I believe that’ll be …

Owen Ryan on the importance of the slots THE preservation of Shannon’s Heathrow slots is of fundamental importance to much of the region’s economy, and ensuring connectivity continues beyond next September should be a priority for the region’s politicians. More than 15 years ago – well before the precariousness of the slots really came into focus after they were transferred to Belfast – Shannon Town Council had called for them to be ring fenced for the Clare airport. However, that did not happen, still has not happened, and it is very possible that next autumn they could be lost once more. In 2007 Aer Lingus hoped to bury news of its decision to transfer four Heathrow slots from Shannon to Belfast, by leaking the information on the August Bank Holiday weekend. That didn’t work at all though, and even though the economy was booming at the time, a major campaign began, encompassing politicians, tourism industry figures, some leading multinational companies …

FEARS are growing that Aer Lingus won’t resume transatlantic services at Shannon until at least next year. A document has been circulating, ostensibly an internal Aer Lingus one, which indicates that this will be the case. Part of the document’s headline states “Realistic Plan” and it indicates that services from Shannon to Boston and New York won’t resume until 2022. In recent times Aer Lingus has sought to develop new transatlantic services from Manchester, and it indicates that Manchester-Orlando and New York would begin in late July, while Manchester-Barbados would begin in October. A number of transatlantic services would also restart from Dublin this year. The document also says that rebuilding the Dublin hub from September will be a priority. If the document were a hoax it would be a rather elaborate one, while Aer Lingus did not deny its validity when approached for comment last Friday. In a statement the airline said, “Aer Lingus is currently flying a significantly …

A SUM of €6.327 million is being allocated to Shannon, under the Covid-19 Regional State Airports Programme 2021, Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton announced this morning. Knock, Donegal and Kerry Airports will also be receiving a combined total of almost €4.8 million. Announcing the allocations, Minister of State Naughton said: “I am delighted to be approving these capital allocations in what has been an incredibly difficult year on our regional airports. This funding represents a strong commitment by Government to help Ireland’s regional airports remain financially sustainable as they plan to move beyond the largest exogenous shock that the sector has ever faced.” Minister Naughton added, ‘I am pleased to say that this year’s funding has also taken climate objectives into account for the first time, representing an important step in the process towards the ‘greening’ of Irish Airports. I am confident that today’s allocations, coupled with the impending funding to address the impacts of Covid, will help airports regain …

SHANNON will be supported to help it recover from the impact of the pandemic, Minister of State at the Department of Climate Action and Transport Hildegarde Naughton told the Oireachtas Select Committee on Transport and Communications Networks last week. She told the Committee that of a new €26 million connectivity fund, €6 million will be ringfenced for the smaller regional airports, the greater sum of €20 million will be for the other airports, including Cork, Dublin and Shannon. Questioning the Minister, Clare TD Joe Carey asked, “With regard to the €26 million connectivity fund agreed with Europe, how does the Minister of State intend for this money to be spent? Has a decision been made in that regard? Is it up to different airports to bid for it? Will Shannon Airport get a particular proportion of that €26 million fund?” Replying, Ms Naughton said, “Some €6 million of the €26 million fund is allocated to the regional airports in Knock, …

ALTHOUGH Aer Lingus is in receipt of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, it has announced it will lay off 129 in-flight service and ground operations staff at Shannon, from next Monday until June 7. One cabin crew worker said that the move to solely lay off the Shannon staff, despite excess staff at all its bases, shows a long-standing anti-Shannon attitude at a senior level in Aer Lingus. “We’re just getting targeted all the time, this is the second time we’ve been targeted just since the pandemic. There’s a surplus at every base, every single base and we’re the most senior cabin crew in Aer Lingus, but yet we’re the ones being laid off,” he said. Management have not revealed how much money will be saved by the move, but with the airline receiving State support, it will not be particularly significant. “It’s not any amount of money that’s going to close the company. They targeted one specific group, which …