THE CEO of Shannon Airport has rowed in behind Minister James Lawless in calling for airlines to use Shannon and other airports to get past the passenger cap in Dublin.
Mary Considine told the Limerick Post that “Shannon Airport is crucial in rebalancing Ireland’s aviation landscape, having capacity to ease congestion at Dublin Airport, enhance connectivity, and support the government’s goal of a balanced regional economy”.
Minister Lawless, a Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said that tourists should consider flying to Shannon or Cork airports.
He made the remarks amid a long-running dispute over a passenger cap at Dublin Airport.
Dublin Airport is currently only allowed to fly through a maximum of 32 million passengers a year, based on planning conditions from 15 years ago. However airport bosses have consistently warned they are already going towards exceeding that cap.
“As Minister Lawless has highlighted, there is no cap at airports outside Dublin. In fact, there is significant underutilised capacity in these airports. As a country we cannot afford to lose new aviation business when the solution is in our hands. We need to give a strong message internationally that Ireland Inc is open for business,” Ms Considine said.
“It is no secret that there is underutilised capacity at Shannon and all airports along the west coast.”
Ms Considine said that recent reports have shown that “over 40 per cent of all tourists flying into Dublin wish to go to the west coast. Moving airline capacity to meet that need would give customers what they want and take pressure off Dublin Airport”.
“We have the longest runway of any airport in Ireland and can take any aircraft type. We have seen our catchment area expand significantly in the last few years as more and more passengers realise how easy it is to use Shannon Airport.”
The Shannon CEO added that “it is also no coincidence that almost half of FDI companies in Ireland are located within our airport catchment area. These businesses cite the importance of having daily transatlantic as well as UK and European services as a key influencing factor in their decision to locate here.”
“Shannon Airport’s immediate catchment area contains 38 per cent of the national population, but accounts for just over for per cent of Ireland’s airport traffic. In a context where Dublin Airport has capacity constraints, and Ireland is struggling to meet binding decarbonisation targets, Shannon Airport has the capacity to take pressure off Dublin now.”
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