Belavia to Resume Minsk-Shannon Service

Belavia, the national airline of Belarus, has confirmed that it will restore its scheduled service to Shannon from December 9th, following a decision in August to suspend service on the route at the end of the current summer schedule.

Welcoming the announcement, Airport Director Martin Moroney said, “We are delighted that Belavia has made this positive decision for Shannon and that services will resume much earlier than we had initially expected. We are particularly pleased that Belavia’s review of the Shannon service has identified new opportunities for connecting traffic between Ireland and the major cities of Moscow, Kiev and St. Petersburg, as well as facilitating the traditional Chernobyl Children’s Charities. I welcome Belavia’s plans to operate additional charters over the forthcoming festive season and to grow the schedule for Summer 2008. We look forward to working closely with Belavia to develop this important service into the future.”

Belavia’s Minsk-Shannon service will operate every Sunday from December 9th, with
timings arranged to link into connecting flights. A more frequent service will be introduced for the Summer 2008 season. Belavia have operated at Shannon since 1993, transferring traffic between Minsk and a number of U.S. cities as well as to Ireland.

Shannon is on course for a record year with over 3.6 million passengers expected to use the airport by the end of 2007. So far this year 3 million passengers have flown through Shannon, 2.6 million of which are terminal passengers.

ENDS

17th October 2007

For further information contact:

Eugene Pratt
Acting External Relations Manager
+353 (0)87 2453865