This article is from page 7 of the 2007-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
THE number of US military person- nel going through Shannon Airport in the second quarter of this year increased by 135 per cent on the number that went through the airport between January and March.
According to figures published by the Shannon Airport Author- ity (SAA) yesterday, the numbers of troops that went through Shan- non from March to June was 63,827 with 27,104 passing through in May alone.
Some 27,070 US military person- nel went through the airport between January and the end of March.
According to the Executive Chair- man of the Shannon Airport Author- ity (SAA), Pat Shanahan, Shannon Airport outdoes all other airports in the world in terms of service levels for the various military carriers.
Last year, profits from the US mili- tary traffic kept the SAA in profit. 280,785 military personnel used the airport’s facilities, which was a drop of 17 per cent or 59,903 on the number that went through Shannon in 2005.
The airport made a profit of €9 mil- lion from the troop traffic in 2005. The profit last year is an estimated ae esneeleyee
“Shannon has a tradition of han- dling military traffic. We do it very well and we have the infrastructure to do so.
“Geographically, the airport is ide- ally located between the two great continents,’ said Mr Shanahan.
“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. Shannon captitalises on it more than airport that I know in the world in terms of friendliness and in terms of the serv- ice level we give the various carriers that operate that business.”
Asked would the authority be look- ing for additional military business, Mr Shanahan said, “We’re good at that business, but if opportunities come along, certainly, but it is not a business you can rely on or predict a certain level of income, it fluctuates oA AAW NCCU RA
“It is not a business we will basing our future on, but it is a reasonable revenue generating business when there is an opportunity to capitalise One
“It is not a predictable business, but it is a business that we are happy to be in 1f the Government is happy to allow the carriers to go through Shannon,” said Mr Shanahan.