This article is from page 2 of the 2008-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
WITH a predicted 10 per cent de- crease in transatlantic traffic this April, chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority, Pat Shanahan be- lieves that the best way forward for the international airport 1s full inde- pendence as soon as possible.
The SAA chair told the Dail Trans- port Committee that Shannon Air- port’s maximum potential could only be achieved as an independent com- mercial State enterprise.
“We believe transatlantic traffic will decrease by 10 per cent this year, with fully open skies in April. However, we believe traffic will grow from that
level and have been proactive in try- ing to retain transatlantic carriers. A number of significant factors will help us to achieve our aims. We have intro- duced a winter incentive 50 per cent discount scheme on landing charges which has been well received by our year-round carriers,” he said.
This winter, there are four direct transatlantic services, as well as a fifth through Dublin Airport.
“Shannon Airport’s marketing role is to attract airlines,’ he added. ““We expect the Open Skies tourism mar- keting fund will help the marketing activities of those agencies to make it attractive for US customers to travel to the west of Ireland.”
Mr Shanahan said the full imple- mentation of the US customs and border protection (CBP) facility in Shannon, which provides immigra- tion and customs clearance, will also be an advantage.
During the period 2000 to 2004, traffic growth at the airport stagnated while costs escalated, but since the ap- pointment of the board of the authority in September 2004 and with the active Support and investment of the Dublin Airport Authority, traffic has grown by 50 per cent, a major restructuring programme has been implemented, annual cost savings of over €10 mil- lion have been secured and the airport is now trading profitably.
Mr Shanahan said, “We believe that if the airport is transferred debt-free and with finance to meet the initial capital infrastructure deficit, it will be able to operate profitably and cov- er its Ongoing capital requirements from cash flow. This means the air- port will be financially viable as an independent entity.”
He added that the key elements of the Shannon Airport plan submitted to the Departments of Transport and Finance last December have been independently validated and clearly demonstrate that the airport will be viable and profitable as a standalone business in the next 10 years and be- yond.