This article is from page 12 of the 2014-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE latest enhancement of Ryanair services out of Shannon represents a huge boost to tourism and the ongoing efforts by airport executives at building route development out of Clare’s international airport.
That’s the message delivered by Tourism Ireland and airport CEO Neil Pakey this week on the back of last Thursday’s announcement by the low-cost airline that it is to strengthen its winter schedule with the addition of further capacity from the end of October.
The airline announced that it is to add a daily Manchester service, replacing a three times weekly Liverpool service, and a weekly Kaunas in Lithuania flight, as well as extra flights to Stansted, to its winter schedule that will begin at the end of October.
This will bring the total number of Ryanair services from Shannon to 11 this winter – six more than the 2013/2014 winter season.
The new routes operated by Ryanair from Shannon this winter are Paris, Berlin, Fuerteventura, Warsaw, Krakow, Manchester and Kaunas. These are in addition to their existing services to be Gatwick, Lanzarote, Stansted and Wroclaw.
“We welcome this further commitment by Ryanair to our upcoming winter schedule, which includes an excellent mix of inbound and outbound opportunities for passengers,” said Neil Pakey.
“We are currently in the middle of a very busy summer season, which has led to a 15 per cent overall increase in passenger numbers in the first six months of the year. Having extra capacity this winter very much strengthens our hand for the off-peak season,” he added.
Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said the new flight from Manchester to Shannon Airport this winter, which will help boost tourism to Clare and the West of Ireland from the all-important British makret.
“We already work very closely with Ryanair and we look forward to co operating with them to maximise the promotion of this new flight to Shannon,” he said. “As an island, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated – they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in visitor numbers,” he added.
“Tourism Ireland is undertaking an extensive programme of promotions in Britain throughout 2014, which includes a major focus on the Wild Atlantic Way. Co-operative campaigns, with key partners like Ryanair and Shannon Airport, are an important element of our programme to boost travel to Ireland.”