This article is from page 4 of the 2012-05-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
SHANNON Airport has a viable future if it is finally freed from the strictures of Dublin Airport Authority control – that’s the gospel according to a DAA memo that has been drafted ahead of the imminent announcement of a new blueprint for Clare’s international airport.
The memo that has been circulated amongst key government departments in recent weeks includes a landmark concession on the part of the DAA that Shannon Airport would be perfectly placed to sur- vive and prosper as an independent entity.
And the memo has revealed that any government decision to grant Shannon full independence could pave the way for the airport to attract an additional 250,000 passengers through the former hub of the aviation world.
This passenger growth forecast by DAA chiefs comes against a backdrop of a haemmorhage of traffic over the past five years, with numbers through the airport plummeting from the record high of 3.6 million in 2006 to under 1.5 million in 2011.
Traffic through Shannon Airport is now at a 15-year low with figures for 2012 so far showing an alarming loss of 20 per cent for the same period in 2011 – a slide that, if continued for the rest of the year, would see passenger numbers decline to under 1.3 million by the year’s end.
Now, the decision by the DAA to back the concept of an independent Shannon for the first time is seen as another link in the chain towards the Government’s long-awaited announcement on the new blueprint for the airport.
This decision was put back until this month, because of what Min- ister for Transport, Leo Varadkar calls “issues with due diligence”. But ahead of the formal announcement, the minister publicly stated his intention to “give Shannon the autonomy and the tools it needs to turn the situation around to get passenger numbers up and get employment up and investment into the area”.
The Government announcement is being made on the back of the Booz and Company report that put forward five separate options for Shannon, with the most favoured being an independent Shannon that will be under State ownership, but run by a new holding company.