This article is from page 17 of the 2011-11-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
PUTTING special procedures in place to entice more military traffic through Ireland has been held up as a short-term plan to boost traffic through Shannon Airport, one submission to the consultative process being undertaken on the airport has said.
This proposal to look to US military personnel has been sounded out by Fine Gael deputy, Pat Breen, who has identified troop traffic en route and returning from Afghanistan and Iraq as having “a key role” in Shannon’s well-being, not only in the past decade, but into the future as well.
In his submission on Shannon that has been forwarded to the Booz and Company team of consultants, Deputy Breen has said that “getting additional troop carriers” through Shannon should be part of the new airport blueprint for the future, the exact details of which will be unveiled by his party colleague and Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, in January.
“The use of Shannon Airport by US military personnel has played a key role in sustaining the airport’s bottom line,” said Deputy Breen in his submission.
“This business has generated significant revenue for the airport particularly in commercial and catering related activities.
“Although US President Barrack Obama has signalled the early return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan; military transit traffic is important business for Shannon Airport. “US Customs Pre Clearance should be extended to include Troop Pre Clearance. Availability of Troop Pre Clearance could attract additional troop carriers to use Shannon Airport and this additional business would assist the airport during this transitional period,” he added. Deputy Breen’s comments come in the wake of recent figures released by the US military which revealed that between 2001 and 2011 there have been 12,154 stopovers in Shannon en route to US war fronts, carrying 2,300,925 troops, while 11,995 return flights have accounted for 2,029,365 military personnel. And, additional figures secured by The Clare People have revealed that 407 commercial flights carrying military personnel have passed through the airport from January to June of this year. The 2001 to 2011 figures have revealed that the peak period of Shannon’s use in US military operations came in 2005, when 1,973 flights passed through the airport, carrying 335,847 passengers, over double the amount that had passed through the previous year. The build-up of troop maneuvers started in 2003, before and after President Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq on March 19 of that year.