This article is from page 14 of the 2008-01-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
POOR load factors on the new Shan- non-Dublin route have prompted Ry- anair to pull the service less than six weeks after it was launched.
The new route was launched on No- vember 28 last but passengers were yesterday informed that the service is to be abandoned from February 4 next.
All passengers who have booked tickets on or after that date are to be fully refunded, with a brief Ryanair
statement confirming that the route has been pulled following “an opera- tional review”.
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy (Ind) said, “The decision is not unexpected as the load factors on the flights were low.”
She added, “One wonders about all the talk from people wanting the route as it was not supported. Ryanair doesn’t hang around when routes are making losses.”
Fianna Fail TD, Timmy Dooley said, “It is a blow at one level but I
understand that it hasn’t been utilised in any real way. This has happened with every other carrier who has tried to make a success of the route.
“There is a good train network in place now and people obviously fac- tor in the time spent in the airport at either end and I’m not sure that the flight times were convenient to peo- ple.”
Passengers are now greeted by a large billboard erected by Ryanair saying ‘Welcome to Ryanair coun- try’ and on Sunday, Ryanair chief ex-
ecutive, Michael O’Leary denied that Shannon was becoming over-reliant on Ryanair.
In place of the Dublin route, Rya- nair has launched a_ three-times weekly service to Palma in Majorca, ensuring that the number of Ryanair routes served from Shannon remains at 31. Two million people are expect- ed to fly on Ryanair services out of Shannon this year.
At the airport on Sunday to give out free flights to all passengers on the final Aer Lingus Heathrow flight
out of Shannon, Mr O’Leary said, “If you look at some of the coverage of the Shannon issue, you would swear that Shannon is closing today. It is not. In six months time, no one will even notice that Aer Lingus is gone.”
He added, “Shannon is going to finish up with more routes and more traffic after the Aer Lingus pull-out and we have to get that message aCrOSS.””
He said, “Closing a profitable route from Shannon at a time when the air- line is losing money 1s nuts.”