Another Record Year at Shannon Airport

2006 was the busiest year ever at Shannon Airport according to airport management. The total number of passengers using Shannon Airport exceeded 3.6 million for the first time ever an increase of 10% on the previous year. Shannon consolidated its position as Ireland’s second largest airport after Dublin with approx. 600,000 passengers more than its closest competitor. Cargo throughput was also up 5% on 2005, which was a welcome reversal of previous trends.

Commenting on the results Airport Director Martin Moroney said, “ we are very pleased with this year’s performance despite some serious competition from other Irish airports. We are particularly delighted that Shannon processed over 2.9 million international terminal passengers. The international terminal segment of our business is seen as critical to our success and that of the region. In 2006 there were 14 short-haul scheduled services launched namely Bournemouth, Madrid, Edinburgh, Krakow, Vilnius, Rome, Venice, Manchester, Gdansk, Biarritz, Carcassone, Murcia, Faro and Wroclaw as well as additional frequencies added to existing routes and far busier off-peak periods.”

Airport management are also pleased to see that US carriers have performed so well at Shannon this year with transatlantic passenger numbers increasing by 10% on last year. In a development, which confirms the strong market potential for transatlantic airlines at Shannon Airport for Summer 07, Delta Airlines recently announced that it would commence a dedicated Shannon/New York JFK service, American Airlines will operate a dedicated Shannon/Chicago serve and Aer Lingus will also introduce a daily direct Chicago service to their network. In addition Flyglobespan will operate weekly services to Toronto in Summer 07. 

The growth in business in 2006 placed considerable demands on staff and services at the airport and indeed these efforts were recognised in a formal way this year, as Shannon became the first Irish airport to receive an Airports Council International (ACI) Best Airport Award. We also won the Best Irish Airport Award for the second year in a row from Chambers Ireland.

In conclusion Mr. Moroney said “the outlook for Shannon Airport in 2007 is extremely positive and the introduction of even more new services next year shows that we are continually working to satisfy the demands of the travelling public in a fiercely competitive environment. I would like to thank all our customers, airlines and passengers alike, for making 2006 another record year and look forward to working with them and new arrivals over the year ahead.”

ENDS
3rd Jan 2007