This article is from page 16 of the 2007-06-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
SHANNON Airport capitalises on US military business more than any other airport in the world in terms of the service level given to the various eel ne
That is the view of the Executive Chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA), Pat Shanahan.
Last year profits from the US mili- tary personnel traffic kept the SAA in profit. 280,785 troops used the air-
port’s facilities which was a drop of 59,903 troops, or 17 per cent, on the number that went through Shannon neWA0 Oy
The airport made a profit of €9 million in 2005 and the profit last year is estimated at €7.4 million.
Troop passengers were at a low lev- el in the first quarter of this year, but they are on the increase again.
Mr Shanahan said, “Shannon has a tradition of handling military traffic. We do it very well and we have the
infrastructure to do so. Geographi- cally the airport is ideally located between the two great continents.
“It is a business we do very well. Obviously the ultimate decision is a Government decision. While there is a business opportunity we will certainly capitalise on it and Shan- non captitalises on it before than any airport that I know in the world in terms of friendliness and in terms of the service level we give the various carriers that operate that business.”