The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
AFTER nearly two years, transatlantic flights resumed at Shannon this Thursday, writes Owen Ryan, with the departure of an Aer Lingus service to Boston, followed by the resumption of its New York service tomorrow.
Representatives from multinational companies, the tourism sector and local politicians all attended an event to mark the first flight, and addressing those in attendance Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine said it was very heartening to see connectivity to America restored.
“As all of you know we have a very rich history here of air links to the US and the east coast of the United States so it’s really great news today that they are being restored. We’re really excited as well to see US visitors back on our shore, and we are joined this morning by many members of the tourism sector, the hospitality sector.”
She said that the sector is emerging from a uniquely difficult time and the return of Americans is very welcome.
“It’s been a really tough two years and it’s really great to see US visitors coming back to Shannon. I don’t need to remind you of how tough the last two years have been, how challenging it has been for everyone in the aviation industry and none moreso than our own staff.
“I just want to say thank you to all our staff who have worked with us and toiled over the last two years. We haven’t been idle, we’ve used this time to invest in infrastructure and improve the offering and customer experience. Hopefully as you came in this morning you’ll have seen that, seen the investment that has gone into the airport.”
Ms Considine thanked Aer Lingus for resuming the services: “Obviously critical to restoring airline connectivity is our airline partners, we work so closely with them and I really want to thank Aer Lingus for their commitment to Shannon.
“It’s fantastic to have the Boston service back here today, tomorrow we will see New York start back daily year round from Shannon as well and it’s fantastic to have that service. We’ll be back up to full strength on the London-Heathrow service by the end of the month with that early morning slot that’s so critical to business in this region.”
She also praised the State supports to aviation and thanked local politicans for their help.
“I’d like to thank Government for their ongoing support, to our local Oireachtas members thank you for your support, I know many of you are here with us this morning, and we really do appreciate your support over what has been a very challenging period.
“I want to say a special thank you to Minister Naughton and her officials in the Department (of Transport), they have worked very closely with us through what has been the most challenging period in the history of aviation. Since the outset the Minister has recognised how important Shannon is and the connectivity through here, particularly the vital transatlantic links.”
