This article is from page 10 of the 2013-02-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE scale of the challenge faced by the newly independent Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) has been revealed with the news that the number of flight movements dropped to just 37 per day, last month – the lowest average monthly total for more than a decade.
This drop, which coincides with the airport’s first month of independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, represents a 10.7 per cent year-onyear drop in flight movements.
Despite these figures, the airport is expected to show an increase in flight movement later this year with a number of new services announced in recent months. It is hoped that the January figures represent a bottom- ing-out in terms of flight movement, which are expected to show significant gain later this year.
“The early months of the year are always the most challenging and particularly in the current climate but we are fortunate that we can look forward to increased traffic over the course of the year thanks to the commencement of new routes and a strengthening of existing ones. This wasn’t the case over previous years,” said an SAA spokesperson.
“On transatlantic routes alone we have 25 per cent increase in capacity during the summer season [from March to October] thanks to new routes coming on stream for Philadelphia and Chicago. The upswing kicks off next month with the return of Aer Lingus early on JFK New York and Boston routes, in time for the St Patrick’s weekend celebrations, and we also have Delta returning for the summer on JFK.
“Outside the US, we also have a new route announced for Faro, which is one of the most attractive sun destinations in Europe, as well as a doubling of our services to Bodrum in Turkey for the summer season. We will be very strong on the UK routes again this year and have recently added Glasgow to our schedule with Flybe.
“In addition to the gains we have already secured, the newly independent Shannon Airport will be marketed aggressively and competitively for other sustainable services.
“The environment remains challenging and these new services, which were hard won, will need to be supported by the public. But after a really difficult four years for the airport, we are confident that 2013 will be the turning point for us.”
It is also understood that the Shannon Airport Authority will soon officially announce the make up of its new board on management.