Tag Archives: Shannon airport

SHANNON Airport will receive €6.1 million in emergency funding in a boost to the airport as it prepares to reopen on a full-time basis next week, Clare TD Joe Carey confirmed this evening. The emergency funding was agreed at a Cabinet meeting in Dublin today. Deputy Carey, who recently convened the all-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas Group, confirmed Shannon is the only airport to benefit from this funding. The Clare TD said: “This is a hugely welcome development for Shannon Airport, especially in light of recent developments as a result of the pandemic. The airport faces significant challenges, and this funding will provide an important lifeline to Shannon as it prepares to reopen on a 24-hour basis from July 1.” Today’s announcement will come as welcome news as Shannon Airport prepares to resume scheduled passenger operations from next Wednesday. Deputy Carey added: “The return of passenger flights in and out of Shannon is obviously vital for the airport and all its …

RYANAIR will resume 16 services at Shannon Airport from July 1, as the airport reopens to passengers. While the airport remained open for essential services to facilitate cargo, repatriation and emergency flights during the COVID-19 crisis, scheduled passenger services were suspended since the onset of the pandemic. Ryanair is due to recommence services from Shannon Airport from July 1 to Alicante, Barcelona-Reus, Faro, Fuerteventura, Kaunas, Krakow, Lanzarote, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Malaga, Manchester, Palma, Tenerife, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Vienna. Commenting on the new measures being taken at the airport, a spokesperson for Shannon Group said: “The health and safety of our passengers and employees is our number one priority. We have remained open throughout the pandemic, facilitating the arrival into Ireland of vital PPE equipment and were proud to do so. Preparations are now underway to ensure that our passengers returning to Shannon Airport can feel confident with the COVID-19 measures we have put in place throughout the airport. “We are aiming …

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has expressed alarm at today’s (Friday) announcement by Aer Lingus that 500 jobs are to go at the airline. The flag carrier has blamed the global halt in air traffic due to COVID-19 on the move and Deputy Crowe is seriously concerned for workers at Shannon Airport. In a statement to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Aer Lingus outlined plans for redundancies for these workers, pointing to the fact that they are operating at less than 5% their usual capacity. “Management at Aer Lingus has been cavalier with Shannon staff,” Deputy Crowe said. “Unions haven’t been given sufficient time to engage with the workers here and to date, no acknowledgement has been made of the fact that many of the Shannon-based staff rank higher in seniority than their counterparts in Cork and Dublin. “The process appears not to be ‘last in, first out’, but rather a targeting of Shannon-based staff. “My …

ON Tuesday of this week, as a result of routine operations, Revenue officers at Shannon Airport seized 4kgs of Kratom worth almost €81,000. The consignment originated from Luxembourg and was destined for an address in Mayo. Also on Tuesday, Revenue officers seized over 2kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of €44,000 in Shannon Airport. The illegal drugs were discovered in four different packages in a freight consignment that originated in Milan, Italy. All packages were destined for an address in Galway. The seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing work targeting the illegal importation of drugs and shadow economy activity. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.

ON Tuesday, as a result of routine operations, Revenue officers seized over two kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of €44,000 in Shannon Airport. The illegal drugs were discovered in four different packages in a freight consignment that originated in Milan, Italy. All packages were destined for an address in Galway. Investigations are ongoing. These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.

THE importance of Shannon Airport for Clare was stressed in the Dáil last week, with calls for it to be helped through the Covid-19 crisis. “Shannon Airport is the driving force in Clare and the Mid-West Region. At this time of crisis, it has been deemed essential and has accepted many cargo flights of personal protection equipment, PPE. “When the crisis is over, there will be an acute need for the Department to provide the airport with a capital expenditure fund,” said Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe. “For too long, the airport has had to self-finance all major projects, including a recent €15 million upgrade of the runway. “All such outlays seriously eat into the airport’s financial resources meaning that it has very little funding left over for marketing the airport, attracting new routes and retaining existing routes. There is urgent action needed in that regard. “The funding needs to be ring-fenced for the airport to safeguard it in the …

EVEN as passenger numbers dropped at Shannon Airport in 2019, profits for Shannon Group went upwards. According to its annual report, which has now been published, profit after tax for 2019 was €21.637 million, up from €20.915m in 2018. However, 2018 had seen a sum of €5.8m spent on a voluntary redundancy scheme. Writing in the report, chairman Rose Hynes described the 2019 performance as “satisfactory”. “This is a positive result in what was a challenging year for aviation and tourism in the regions,” she claimed. Of Shannon’s disappointing passenger numbers, Ms Hynes wrote, “It was disappointing that after six successive years of growth at the airport, passenger numbers were down by 8% to 1.71 million in 2019, due mainly to the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX Jet on safety grounds. However, we redoubled our efforts to secure additional services and ended the year with the announcement of three new services to Paris Charles de Gaulle, Vienna and …

NEW Clare TD Cathal Crowe has said that a major investment package will be required to support Shannon Airport, after the Covid-19 pandemic abates. Before the pandemic Dublin Airport was very much dominant over all the other Irish airports, with economic consequences for other parts of the country. Deputy Crowe said that Fianna Fáil has already written to the European Commissioner for Mobility seeking a discussion on the European response to the crisis, and to examine means to support Irish airports and airlines. He added, ““It had been hoped that the situation (at Shannon) would improve in 2020, but with the Coronavirus public health emergency and travel restrictions, it seems impossible that any progress will be made this year. “Shannon has been hugely impacted by COVID-19, and the effects will be felt long after the worst of this virus is over. As an island nation, we rely heavily on our airports for international connectivity and economic opportunities. Pre-clearance was a …