Best little international airport

kilburn

Had anyone noticed that Shannon won this award?

Claregirl

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Shannon-voted-39the-best-little.6656347.jp

Hadn't noticed!!

I have to say I'm a bit surprised that it got this award given the way it's been downgraded and the facilities that have been decimated in recent years.

With the improved motorway access from Galway to Cork though it's even easier to access and very rarely get's fog-bound or closed due to snow!! Now if only we could actually fly somewhere..........!:rolleyes:

CptSternn

Heh, it won the award but yet we still can't fly anywhere from there.

CiaranMT

Hoping our flight home Christmas Eve morning gets diverted there, twould be handy out.

dr.fuzzenstein

They must have won for ample available parking, no queues at checking, nice peaceful and quiet terminal building, no waiting in line anywhere and generally the best airport you could have the most relaxing time in, as long as you don't mind not going anywhere.

finbarrk

Nowhere?
New York, London, Paris, Manchester, etc.

Shapey Fiend

It's just gone back to the way it was in 2000 or so. Used to be mad quiet down there before. It still flys a fair few places.

It's nice to go to an airport and not have to deal with big crushes and queues, but that's the case with Cork and Dublin now as well. You can get from the door to your plane in 20 minutes.

dr.fuzzenstein

Just noticed that parking at Shannon airport costs
NINE EURO FCUKING 50 A DAY!!!!!!!!!
And as to doesn't go anywhere: I fly back to Germany once or twice a year, I haven't used it in about 2-3 years.
And again this winter I fly from Dublin where I pay: (Are you ready for this?)
A fiver a day! A bloody fiver, that is just about HALF of what those thieves at Shannon want, even IF they where flying ANYWHERE useful to me I wouldn't pay that.
I fact I never did.
Drop GF off at the terminal, drive to Ind Est, park car in one of the ample spaces available, walk back to terminal.
To me and the many, MANY Germans, Dutch, French and other nationalities in the entire catchment area Shannon airport is about as much use as the Pope's balls.

highlydebased

Claregirl wrote: »

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Shannon-voted-39the-best-little.6656347.jp

Hadn't noticed!!

I have to say I'm a bit surprised that it got this award given the way it's been downgraded and the facilities that have been decimated in recent years.

With the improved motorway access from Galway to Cork though it's even easier to access and very rarely get's fog-bound or closed due to snow!! Now if only we could actually fly somewhere..........!:rolleyes:

To be fair it has not been downgraded or decimated at all (The facilities have in fact been improved)

What has been decimated though is the number of services operating

amiable

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Just noticed that parking at Shannon airport costs

And as to doesn't go anywhere: I fly back to Germany once or twice a year, I haven't used it in about 2-3 years.
And again this winter I fly from Dublin where I pay: (Are you ready for this?)
A fiver a day! A bloody fiver, that is just about HALF of what those thieves at Shannon want, even IF they where flying ANYWHERE useful to me I wouldn't pay that.
I fact I never did.
Drop GF off at the terminal, drive to Ind Est, park car in one of the ample spaces available, walk back to terminal.
To me and the many, MANY Germans, Dutch, French and other nationalities in the entire catchment area Shannon airport is about as much use as the Pope's balls.

Shame on them for not calling you up and asking what destination would be useful for you

seachto7

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

To me and the many, MANY Germans, Dutch,.....
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always were tight with the bobs....

dr.fuzzenstein

amiable wrote: »

Your reply is to attack the country. Well done. If thats your attitude i'm afraid we don't need you. Good luck on your journey.
You seem like a cracking person to want to not pay for things.

I was not attacking the country, I was attacking the county.
Clare could have shipping, a thriving airport, an expanding industrial estate and get itself known internationally as a tourist destination.
Instead things have steadily gone downhill here, Shannon airport is down business by up to 80% by my conservative estimate, Shannon industrial estate is mostly empty, the main achievement in the last 10 years was a motorway that bypasses Clare altogether.
And it's been going downhill since at least '06 when everywhere else was still thriving.
As a German I am very well used to paying taxes, but it's nice to get a something in return.
Here you only pay taxes to plug the yawning chasms in the public finances since the cushy deals have gone south.
You seem like a person who is happy to be ripped off and get nothing in return other than losing his job.
Let me guess, FF party loyal and civil servant?

kippy

Good to hear that Shannon won the award. Have flown many times from there and its a great experience.

That being said, the poster above has a major point - he may not be going about it the right way but that does not make the point invalid.
Shannon is/has gone downhill in a big way, numbers wise anyway. This has been happening for a few years and its sad to see. There are interests (dont know who) who have made Shannon very unattractive. There is space in this country for a second major airport and Shannon should be it.

billy the squid

OK peoples, I have removed some trollery and posts quoting said trollery. let us not be making a nuicance of ourselves .

CptSternn

The DAA runs Shannon. Talk about a conflict of interests. First they have a hand in rerouting certain flights from other countries to Dublin, then they slap Shannon with a tax Dublin doesn't have to pay, then they cut funding to Shannon.

Everything they do to better Dublin airport is done at the expense of Shannon.

With the opening of the new 'terminal 2' expect even more resources, funding, and cuts at Shannon's expense so they can try to breath life into a second Dublin terminal.

It's sad really that not one of the politicians (i.e. FF members) who campaigned on the platform of reviving the airport has done one single thing to actually help.

Nevermind_

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

It's just gone back to the way it was in 2000 or so. Used to be mad quiet down there before. It still flys a fair few places.

It's nice to go to an airport and not have to deal with big crushes and queues, but that's the case with Cork and Dublin now as well. You can get from the door to your plane in 20 minutes.

Actually, it was far far busier back in 2000 in terms of passenger numbers and routes even though it had worse facilities.
I spent the summer of 2000 working down there and on saturdays it was mental, very busy and kinda chaotic.
Was down there this summer on a saturday and the place was like a ghost town

Shapey Fiend

I was going on what I'd heard from other staff. I used work as a dispatcher there in 2006 when things were mad busy. Tons of military and Ryanair flights. I'd heard from dispatchers that were there a long time ago that they never even left the chair they were sitting in because things were so quiet. They'd just toss the paperwork out the window to one of the ramp crew and go back to twiddling their thumbs. Sounded like a dream job. Was pre-2001 bomb paranoia as well so I imagine there wasn't the whole hassle over bags/passangers being matched up.

dr.fuzzenstein

CptSternn wrote: »

The DAA runs Shannon.

And that's what it always boils down to, isn't it?
Everytime this discussion takes place (just check past threads for some Deja Vu) it ends up at what can only be described the elephant in the room.
Would any right thinking business man allow his shop to be run by the shop across the road?
He'd go to court where he would win in an instant.
Of course the courtsystem in this country is most likely bent and little more than a FF policy enforcement agency, but take this case to Europe and the judge would sit down, leaf through the evidence and say "Are you guys for real? Is this a joke?" and find against the DAA before everyone would have a chance to sit down.
Shannon airport authority must have it's hands tied by FF somehow, because Timmy, Tony, etc... have obviously been told "your loyalties lie with the party first and your county second so keep those feckers in check".
So the SAA won't go to court to fight for their right to run their own airport, the only explanation can be that they where guaranteed their jobs, i.e. Shannon airport will be kept afloat by your taxes even if absolutely no airline flies there anymore. I'd like a job there quite frankly, I could have another job on the side, learn a language, do degrees online, etc...
In fact many airport workers resented Ryanair, to them it was a: not a "proper" airline and b: too much work.
But these days snobbery won't get you anywhere.
Maybe the landing strip can be used for dragracing or go-carting?
But the "down with that sort of thing" brigade would never allow this.:P

BeeDI

Slooooooowest, airport in the whole world to get you bag off the plane and on to the carousel. A total joke. Been like that for ever and allways.

In fact, with the new motorway to Dublin, you would be home nearly as fast as witing for the Shannon baggage system to wake up.
Pains me to say it, but that's the way.

pedroThePirate

Shannon is a friendly airport.

The planes may not go anywhere useful, the parking may cost
two arms and a leg, the access road may remind you of a training
ground for armoured personnel carrier drivers, but at least the
girls in the cafeteria actually talk to you, the wi-fi is free, and you
can wait outside the terminal in your car to pick someone up
without being waved on by the volkspolizei who inhabit Dublin,
Heathrow and almost any other airport in the world.

Chris

dr.fuzzenstein

pedroThePirate wrote: »

and you
can wait outside the terminal in your car to pick someone up
without being waved on by the volkspolizei who inhabit Dublin,
Heathrow and almost any other airport in the world.

Chris

That is actually a genuine oddity about Shannon airport.
On the left is drop off and on the right is loading bays.
When I had jobs to do in the airport I'd just dump the car in front of the terminal building and go about my business for however long it took me (1-2 hours usually). You'd never have to be worried about your car being clamped or towed, people used to fly away for two weeks and just leave the car in front of the terminal.
I even was allowed to drive airside in the beginning. That was stopped later on after (I'm not quite sure but that's what I heard) someone tried to get across the grounds by driving down the runway and causing a near disaster, never mind half a dozen heart attacks and strokes in the tower.:D

Run_to_da_hills

Title edit: Best little international WARport.

CiaranMT

Ah, welcome RTDH

kilburn

DR Fuzzenstein cop on to yourself the thread is about Shannon airport winning an award which is a very prestigious award.
Keep your petty Fianna Fail and slanderous remarks to another thread. Lots of your comments make it clear that you do not know what you are talking about. Nazi sympathiser I aint getting into that with a German but this is not the thread for it.

shannon_tek

Im so glad Shannon won an Award. God how i do love Shannon. my second home. Im just disappointed its so neglected. It has so much potential great facilities. that by the looks will go to waste.

minnow

Love flying out of Shannon instead of the drive to Dublin and hassle there. Half hour walk to some ofthe gates and lots of queues.

Just a pity that the destinations are very restricted so I generally HAVE TO fly from Dublin.

Clareman

Wow, Shannon Airport to Nazis in 2 pages, Godwin's Law strikes again

chucken1

Clareman wrote: »

Wow, Shannon Airport to Nazis in 2 pages, Godwin's Law strikes again

How does that happen????

pedroThePirate

Clareman wrote: »

Wow, Shannon Airport to Nazis in 2 pages, Godwin's Law strikes again

I would guess feelings run pretty strong these days, Clareman.

Especially as Shannon was billed as the jewel in Clare's crown
only a few short years back and now resembles a ghost town
as so many of the punters for the tax breaks pull out and go to
manufacture their crap in Poland and Korea, or relocate their
call centres in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Can't really blame either me or fuzzenstein for a small rant.

Chris

kilburn

Lads ye aint doing it any favours by ranting about it here, what will the handful of tourists think.
For the record whatever Dev did or didnt do, he got Ireland its Republic end of.

Clareman

Back on topic folks, this is about Shannon Airport, not Irish politics/history