Tag Archives: Shannon airport

MORE public transport options that are connected to Shannon Airport are needed to make it more attractive for passengers, according to the first citizen. Clare County Council chairman, Councillor Michael Begley has cited his recent experience on a flight from Shannon Airport to Birmingham in England to highlight the difference between what transport opportunities are available for passengers in these two locations. Speaking at a recent Killaloe Municipal District meeting, Councillor Begley told his council colleagues he left Shannon Airport for Birmingham the previous Monday evening. “To my surprise the flight was almost full. Within two hours of leaving Shannon, I had used the plane, shuttle bus, light rail, monorail and a train to be in Birmingham City Centre in two hours. “That is what real access means to me. We are nowhere related to that. I am using Birmingham because it was a commuter short flight. “We have to think how we can make Shannon more attractive to the …

THERE was some surprise around the county that the Clare hurling team didn’t fly from Shannon for the recent Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston. Obviously Shannon was the logical place for them to fly out of, rather than Dublin, and with the Clare airport always looking for local support, having the county’s hurling team fly from there would have been appreciated. However, although some members of the Limerick squad departed from Shannon, the Banner crossed the country to Dublin Airport, before boarding their flight to the States. In a statement this week Aer Lingus, which sponsored flights for the competing teams, claimed that Clare had to go to Dublin because there had been a very high level of demand. “Aer Lingus was delighted to partner with the Gaelic Players Association and GAA again, this year as a title sponsor, of the Aer Lingus Fenway Hurling Classic 2018 held at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park. We supported flights for the four teams …

EXTREME heat is the story of the week in Clare, and on Thursday Shannon Airport recorded a phenomenal 32 degrees celsius, the hottest Irish temperature seen since July 2006. It was also the hottest June temperature recorded anywhere in the country since 1976. A staus yellow high temperature warning remains in place until 10pm on Saturday for the whole country. Temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius are expected in the Mid West again today, while in excess of 27 degrees are expected on Saturday. Clare County Council have said that their gritters are continuing to treat roads that are affected by melting tarmac, while a road temperature in Scariff hit 56.9 degrees celsius on Thursday. Road users are advised to be cautious, particularly on minor roads and when braking. Owen Ryan

Over the May Bank Holiday, Shannon Airport had its busiest weekend of the year so far in what is expected to be its best season in a decade. With almost 150 weekly departures, Shannon’s expanded summer schedule for 2018 includes new transatlantic, European and UK services and is set to deliver more passengers at the airport since it separated as an independent. This weekend alone saw Delta Air Lines recommence its daily JFK service and with Air Canada to kick off its new Toronto service in four weeks’ time, Shannon will have its busiest transatlantic schedule for 17 years, with eight services operated to seven destinations. With passenger numbers already up by 5% in the first quarter, the gains are being felt across all markets. The UK, also up in the first quarter, is showing its resilience despite Brexit concerns and is set to grow further as Ryanair launches Liverpool and Bristol services, as well as increase its Manchester frequencies, …

Fodder shortage hit farmers in the region got a well-deserved reprieve this week as they received bales from the 1,200 plus crop harvested at Shannon Airport over the weekend. Three days of grass cutting ended on Sunday evening at the airport, with the 1,265 bales despatched throughout the weekend to worst hit farmers across the region. The silage harvesting began on Friday morning and continued right through to Sunday as the airport acceded to the request from the IFA to allow grass across its 400 acre site to be cut. Speaking at the end of a busy weekend, Shannon Airport Director of Operations Niall Maloney said: “It was busy few days but we’re used to a lot of activity at the airport this time of year. What we are not used to is the type of stress that farmers have endured due to the fodder shortage. “They have been under severe pressure due to the fodder shortage and when we …

Shannon Airport has pledged its support to farmers battling the current fodder crisis by offering to repeat its intervention of 2013 when it harvested silage from its 400 acre site. The Airport’s operations team will meet with farm representatives over the coming days to explore the need to fast-track cutting of grass on the airport grounds in light of the severe difficulties faced by many farmers due to the prolonged inclement winter and spring weather. The airport’s grass husbandry programme is not due to see any grass inside the airport perimeter cut until later in the summer, but in light of the shortages, the airport is offering to bring it forward to support local farmers. Five years ago, in late April, farmers received 1,600 bales of silage from the airport in what was then the most severe fodder crisis in living memory. Airport operations director Niall Maloney said,“Farmers were in difficulty back then and, having seen just how important our …

Aer Lingus has announced that its Shannon / New York JFK service will operate year-round in 2019. Shannon is set to operate it largest Transatlantic service in 17 years with eight transatlantic services operated by six different carriers across seven destinations from Shannon in 2018. Matthew Thomas, Shannon Group CEO said, “We are delighted that Aer Lingus will be operating a New York / Shannon service year-round in 2019. With 40% of US foreign direct investment in Ireland within Shannon’s catchment area, this is great news for our business community, and makes our region much more attractive for future US FDI.” Andrew Murphy, managing director, Shannon Airport said, “We welcome the decision by Aer Lingus to restore it year-round New York service, which will benefit the business community and leisure travellers who will have more options to avail of onward connections to over 90 destinations at the JFK airport, JetBlue’s largest hub airport.” Describing the Shannon / New York JFK …

FOLLOWING the death of Winnie Mandela on Easter Monday, former airport police officer John O’Halloran recalled a stopover she made at Shannon Airport in 1990. It was shortly after her husband’s release from 27 years of imprisonment, and the visit was quite unexpected. “At the time this photo was taken she was due to come to Ireland about a month later on an official visit,” says John. He ended up with the first photos of Mrs Mandela taken here with her husband. “He [Nelson Mandela] was on a tour of a handful of nations around the world. He had gone from Johannesburg, arrived in Rome, stayed there for a while and he was going to Ottowa in Canada. “On the way they were running low on fuel and they diverted into Shannon unexpectedly. On the day I was in charge of Airport Police and I didn’t call anyone in, we looked after them while they were there.” John added, “She …