This article is from page 2 of the 2008-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE loss of the Shannon-Heathrow service has contributed to Shannon Airport suffering a six per cent drop in passenger traffic for the first quar- ter this year, new figures reveal.
Aer Lingus ended its Shannon- Heathrow service in January, with the consequent estimated loss of 331,000 passengers this year.
Low-cost airline Ryanair has in- creased its frequency and routes to London airports. However, Airport Director, Martin Moroney said that short-haul traffic numbers had suf- fered, due to the loss of the Heathrow
Tos ais eon
In the figures released, the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) confirmed that, from January to March, term1- nal traffic was at 569,000.
This is a six per cent reduction on the previous year. Transit totals for the same period were down by five per cent to 91,500.
In a statement, the SAA blamed the “single digit percentage drop in the first quarter due to recent airline route decisions,’ while it expressed confidence for the remainder of 2008 season, due to indications of increased traffic growth.
The SAA confirmed that terminal
traffic for the month of March de- creased by two per cent compared to the 2007 figure, with over 226,000 passengers using the airport, along with 28,400 transit passengers.
The authority also stated that tran- sit figures were reduced by 8,000 largely due to the decline in pas- senger numbers on combined Shan- non/Dublin transatlantic services as a result of “open skies’.
Mr Moroney said that a downturn in traffic had been expected due to a number of factors.
In relation to short haul, Mr Mo- roney said that the new Air France service is performing well with high
load factors, albeit with less capac- ity and frequency than the Heathrow service had offered.
‘A downturn in transatlantic traffic had been expected this year due to the effects of “Open Skies’ which are in fact in place since the beginning of the Winter 2007/8 schedule,’ said Mr Moroney.
“The recent confirmation by Aer Lingus of year-round commitment to their Shannon transatlantic routes was a welcome development, as was the announcement of additional pro- motional funding aimed at support- ing traffic development on all trans- atlantic routes to Shannon.”