This article is from page 4 of the 2014-01-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
SHANNON looks set to once to be a strong player in the world aircraft leasing industry following news of a multi-billion-euro takeover by Irish company AerCap.
It has emerged that Shannon based company AerCap have just agree a € 4.3 billion deal which will see it buy out American giant International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).
The takeover, which is likely to be finalised between April and May of this year, will dramatically swell the number aircraft on the books of AerCap from its current number, understood to be in the region of 380, to a massive 1,300. This would make it one of the biggest aircraft leasing companies in the world.
Although the corporate headquarters of AerCap are currently in the Netherlands, it is understood that the impact of the merger will be heavily felt in Shannon. The company formed following the collapse of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) and its global business is headed by Aengus Kelly, who previously worked at GPA in Shannon.
Meanwhile, Shannon Airport recorded an increase in passenger numbers for the first time in five years in 2013, the first year since it came under local control.
A total of 1,400,032 passengers flew through the Clare airport last year, an increase of just over 5,000 on the 1,394,781 who used the facility in 2012.
The increase was achieved despite a difficult start to 2013 as month-overmonth passenger numbers continued to decrease in the immediate wake of the airports de-coupling from the Dublin Airport Authority.
However, strong growth from June onwards saw the airport halt the fiveyear slide in passenger numbers.
“Last year was always going to be challenging, not least at the beginning of the year as we emerged from the State airports group,” said Shannon CEO Neil Pakey.
“After a slow start in terms of passenger numbers over the first five months, trends improved considerably as the year drew on and the second half of the year was very positive.
“We are very confident that we will now achieve real growth as we move into 2014 and beyond.”
The increase in the latter half of the year was more pronounced on transatlantic routes where 22 per cent growth was achieved, thanks to new services to Chicago and Philadelphia.