2008 Year End Statement Shannon Airport
Just over 3.1 million
passengers travelled through Shannon Airport in 2008, a decline of 12% on the
previous year, according to figures published by the Airport today. Terminal
traffic which either originates or terminates at Shannon declined by 10% as
compared to 2007.
The reduced passenger
volumes reflect the impact of two significant developments on the Airport last
year, namely the full application of the EU- US Open Skies Agreement from and
the termination of the Aer Lingus London Heathrow service during January 2008.
Shannon Airport management believes it has succeeded in mitigating the impact of
these developments as well as the sharp downturn in global economic conditions.
The combination of
Open Skies, worsening economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic and the
euro dollar exchange rate last summer, resulted in a drop in transatlantic
traffic of 23%. Despite these very challenging circumstances, Shannon Airport
has retained the services of four transatlantic carriers for 2009 (Aer Lingus,
Continental, Delta Air Lines and US Airways). While Delta Airlines has confirmed
that it will not operate a Shannon – Atlanta service in summer 2009, it remains
committed to operating a daily New York on a year-round basis. Aer Lingus will
operate to New York, Boston and Chicago, while Continental and US Airways will
continue to serve Newark and Philadelphia respectively on a similar basis to
2008.
The planned
introduction of Full CBP Pre-Clearance Facilities at Shannon in July 2009 will
be the first such service in Europe and will facilitate access to a broad range
of domestic airport terminals throughout the US.
On short haul
services, Ryanair achieved its passenger targets on its 32 route network at
Shannon Airport during 2008. At the end of the year it had 6 aircraft based in
Shannon. The planned AER Lingus restoration of daily services to London Heathrow
next March is very welcome news to the airport and the region. The combination
of London Heathrow and Paris CDG hub connections means that Shannon has better
global connectivity that ever before.
The City Jet/Air France service to Paris CDG performed well during 2008
with high load factors. Both services will be developed to fully meet the needs
of the business community in its requirement for global
connectivity.
Our charters
performed well during 2008 with the traditional destinations of The Canary
Islands, Spain and Portugal proving the most popular.
In addition to the
development of new routes and services, work has also commenced on the upgrading
and refurbishment of catering facilities within the terminal and a significant
new programme to upgrade the Airport’s retail services will be completed for the
summer 2009 season.
While 2008 was the
first full year of our restructured business, cost control remains a key focus
for Shannon’s business agenda so as to sustain its flexibility and
competitiveness in the marketplace.
The Minister for
Transport, Noel Dempsey T.D., announced in December that any decision relating
to the possible separation of Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports had been
deferred until 2011 due to the very difficult aviation environment. Appropriate
governance arrangements are being put in place to ensure the effective
management of Shannon Airport in the intervening period.
Commenting on the
year’s performance Martin Moroney, Director, Shannon Airport said “2008 proved
to be one of the most difficult for the aviation sector in many years. Airports
across Europe and the UK are also reporting reduced passenger traffic levels for
2008 due to reduced economic activity worldwide. During 2008 our key focus was
to limit the effects of the loss of The London Heathrow services and the full
application of the Open Skies agreement by seeking to develop additional traffic
streams for the airport. While the year ended in a more positive way with the
Heathrow and CBP announcements we will continue to face a very difficult
aviation environment in 2009. In the light of many challenges we are confident
that Shannon will continue to be main airport in the West of Ireland, with the
support of a growing catchment area as the road access infrastructure is fully
developed”.
ENDS
20th Jan
2009
