Revenue officers at Shannon Airport seized €14,000 in cash, when they stopped and questioned a Chinese woman following routine profiling. The woman, in her 20s, was boarding a flight to London Heathrow for onward travel to Hong Kong. Revenue seized the cash, which was denominated in €50, €100, €200 and €500 notes, suspecting it to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, criminal activity. Today, at Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan granted a three month detention order to allow Revenue to investigate further. These investigations are ongoing. Revenue officers have powers under the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, and the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2005 to seize and detain cash suspected to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, any criminal activity, at the point of import – export, or in the course of operations within the State. In 2015, Revenue seized €1.6m. So far this year over €590k has been seized in 45 cases, and …
Read More »Clune calls for action on Norwegian Airs dispute
Ireland South MEP and member of the EU Transport committee Deirdre Clune has welcomed cross party support from other MEPs in her bid to pressure the European Commission into taking immediate action in the case of Norwegian Airs bid to fly to the US from Shannon and Cork. In a letter to Commissioner Bulc, Ireland South MEPs from across the political divide have asked the Commissioner to trigger the arbitration process in the license application process without delay, as well as setting out the timeline and procedure for this. Speaking as the Norwegian Airlines license application issue rumbles on, MEP Clune said the Commissioner must act now and begin the process of arbitration in the dispute, whose delay is in direct breach of the US-EU Open Skies agreement, so that the flights can begin operating from Cork and Shannon Airports. “In July 2016, the European Commission said that it would initiate arbitration proceedings against the US Department of Transport due …
Read More »Foley’s remains due in Shannon
Anthony Foley’s remains are to be flown home from Paris to Shannon Airport tomorrow, Wednesday, from where they will be brought to his family home (private) in Killaloe. The Munster rugby coach and former Ireland player died in a hotel in the French capital over the weekend, hours before his team was due to play in a European Cup game. Anthony Foley’s remains will lie in repose at St Flannan’s Church, Killaloe from 1pm to 8.30pm on Thursday evening. People intending on paying their respects to Anthony are encouraged to attend early. The funeral mass will take place at 12 noon on Friday at St Flannan’s Church, with the church reserved for family and friends only. Burial afterwards will be at Relig Núa Cemetery, Killaloe.
Read More »New air service from Shannon to Stockholm
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is to launch a new service from Shannon to Stockholm in Sweden next year. The new service will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays from August 1 until October 17, 2017. Matthew Thomas, CEO, Shannon Group said,“This new service will not only have a positive impact for inbound tourism for the West of Ireland, but will also provide valuable business connectivity as people using the service will be able to connect at the SAS hub at Stockholm Arlanda Airport for flights to over 22 destinations including Copenhagen, Oslo Helsinki, Gothenburg, Billund, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius and a host of domestic airports in Sweden. The announcement is another first for Shannon and a great boost for the region by one of the world’s major airlines. We are thrilled to welcome SAS to Shannon and we look forward to working with them to ensure the success of the new service.” Alan Sparling, GSA for SAS in Ireland …
Read More »‘Parky’ to be added to airport’s Wall of Fame
Shannon Airport is about to add another famous name to its ‘Wall of Fame’, that of the world’s most famous TV chat show hosts, Sir Michael Parkinson. The photograph of arguably Britain’s greatest ever chat show host taken at Shannon last Friday will be mounted on the wall of fame with over 60 other famous Shannon passengers that flew in and out of the airport across the decades. Others whose image taken at the airport also made the Wall of Fame include a number of Sir Michael’s 2,000 plus interviewees, including, Mohammed Ali , Gene Kelly, Nelson Mandela, Marlon Brando, Bob Hope, Richard Burton and Mick Jagger. Shortly after his arival, Sir Michael was given a tour of the Shannon ‘Wall of Fame’ in the airport’s transit lounge and, as he explored the permanent exhibition, recalled interviewing some of the world-famous people captured in it. The permanent exhibition was unveiled last year to celebrate the airport’s 70th anniversary and Mr …
Read More »Call for airport ambulance cover review
ALARM bells are ringing in Clare following the revelation that an off-duty senior ambulance officer had to travel from Tralee to Shannon Airport to attend a serious incident, which resulted in the hospitalisation of 12 people, last month. The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has been requested to review its ambulance cover for major emergencies after a senior officer had to complete a round trip of more than 250km to deal with medical casualties arising out of an emergency landing at Shannon on August 31. United Airlines flight UA880, with 207 passengers and a crew of 13 on board, had to make an emergency landing at the airport due to “severe and unexpected turbulence”. The Boeing 767-300 jet was flying from Houston in the US to London Heathrow. When the aircraft landed, initial assessment was carried out by the National Ambulance Service and airport first responders. It was subsequently confirmed by the HSE that 12 passengers, nine adults and three children, …
Read More »Shannon top of the world in aviation awards
Shannon Airport’s global standing as a leading international airport in its class has been reinforced with its selection as winner of the World Routes Marketing Awards 2016 for airports under 4 million passengers. For the second time in three years the airport claimed the ‘Best Marketing of Airports’ award at an overnight event at the New Century Global Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Other shortlisted airports in the category were Halifax International, Aruba, Belfast City Airport and Cork Airport. The annual Routes Marketing Awards are widely regarded as the most valuable awards in the industry and Shannon’s second win in three years keeps up a remarkable record since the airport was separated in 2013. Both last year and in 2013 Shannon was ‘Highly Commended’ in the category, giving the airport four podium finishes in four successive years since it was separated. The global awards are voted on exclusively by airlines and recognise the marketing and promotional activities of airports …
Read More »Memorial service to mark Shannon’s worst air crash
THIS Saturday is the 55th anniversary of the worst air crash in Shannon’s history and one family are travelling from Austria to commemorate the tragedy. Eighty-four people were killed when a President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crashed into the Estuary on September 10, 1961. Thirty-three-year-old Ferdinand Berger was one of those on board and his death left his wife and three children bereaved. This weekend, his two daughters, Eva and Christa, are visiting with their families. They have been in contact with Fr Tom Ryan over recent months and, speaking about their arrival, he said. “I was contacted during the summer by the Berger family, to help organise a memorial service this Saturday for their father, who died 55 years ago in this crash. “Their contact led me to do a bit of investigation into all that happened in that era in Shannon, which is fairly well documented. Unfortunately, at that time, so many people lost their lives. Everyone who lost …
Read More »