Shannon Airport Thread [Mod Warning in First Post]

JCX BXC

How can one get into bed with Ryanair again when you are already in bed with them?

I'd completely disagree Marno on that point, we've seen the damage it's caused already and any further deal would drive out any airlines that could potentially come to SNN.

Who's to say they would have any interest in going to Shannon anyway? They pulled most of their routes already, despite the lucrative deals in place. Very little room for expansion with Ryanair also due to crew issues.

In regards to the United service, possibly however D8 were certainly a contributory factor. Families who would have flown other airlines are flying NAI now, that's at least some of the market gone.

And Access, yes more could be done, however cherry picking examples is no good for debate (generally expect more of you Marno) and Shannon does have good connectivity to Limerick and Galway with Bus Eireann. How does one get a private operator to operate to Shannon when either they don't want to, or the NTA won't let them.

I've heard rumours of Dublin Coach wanting to operate to Shannon airport on their Ennis-Limerick-Dublin service, however they weren't allowed by the NTA. The reliability of that is unknown though.

marno21

JCX BXC wrote: »

How can one get into bed with Ryanair again when you are already in bed with them?

I'd completely disagree Marno on that point, we've seen the damage it's caused already and any further deal would drive out any airlines that could potentially come to SNN.

Who's to say they would have any interest in going to Shannon anyway? They pulled most of their routes already, despite the lucrative deals in place. Very little room for expansion with Ryanair also due to crew issues.

In regards to the United service, possibly however D8 were certainly a contributory factor. Families who would have flown other airlines are flying NAI now, that's at least some of the market gone.

And Access, yes more could be done, however cherry picking examples is no good for debate (generally expect more of you Marno) and Shannon does have good connectivity to Limerick and Galway with Bus Eireann. How does one get a private operator to operate to Shannon when either they don't want to, or the NTA won't let them.

I've heard rumours of Dublin Coach wanting to operate to Shannon airport on their Ennis-Limerick-Dublin service, however they weren't allowed by the NTA. The reliability of that is unknown though.

I understand how undependable Ryanair are, but who else is lining up to enter the market at Shannon and Ryanair are stopping them? SAS' load factors were poor last summer, I presume they're not returning? Lufthansa ran a Saturday A319 service using spare capacity. 1 per week is tiny, how much scope for expansion is there?

Air Canada and Norwegian are two big entrants to the market, and Ryanair won't be competing with them. If other airlines are scared to enter the market over potential Ryanair competition, why not try and get Ryanair to expand?

D8 may have been a contributory factor but D8 are not responsible for making SNN-EWR totally unviable for 5 months. Especially with higher yield business passengers. These people are not flying with Norwegian and won't be anytime soon. Shannon aren't the only airport losing 757 TA service and this won't be rectified until the A321LR comes online.

I picked the UL example because I'm fairly familiar with this case and there is a massive student population in this area which is a big market for Ryanair, young people with limited disposable income looking for cheap getaways. If the NTA are causing hassle then its upto Shannon Airport to start making noise and get that rectified. At the minute from Shannon, Ryanair fly to London/Manchester, sun routes (FUE/TFS/AGP/ACE) and home flights for eastern Europeans (obviously with some Irish usage) to Wroclaw/Kaunas/Warsaw/Krakow. This is quite limited in fairness.

JCX BXC

In regards to connectivity in Europe, yes it's become shockingly poor again. Not 1 steady route to France (there was a summer route to Nantes before the Ryanair deal in 2014). And a token route to Germany.

However, I think this proves that Ryanair are not the people to deliver routes to Europe as they simply don't last when it's not paddy going on holidays or polishpaddy going home.

In regards to poor capacity on the ATR's, I'd ask you to note that Ryanair wouldn't operate Edinburgh even when the airport was offering good concessions, hence another example of how Ryanair don't really want much to do with Shannon except for sporadically jumping on routes or scaring off other airlines.

hobie14

OMG ........

Brennans Row

The UK Airport Provisional Statistics for September are out.

JCX BXC

Good to see that Gatwick and Heathrow are taking some of the slack from Stansted, and that BHX and EDI with Aer Lingus regional are continuing to grow.

mdmix

marno21 wrote: »

3. Access: ..... There are 50 return buses from UL to Dublin Airport every day, all highly marketed. This is a journey time of betwen 2 and 3 hours, traffic dependent. There are 0 direct buses from UL to Shannon Airport, a journey time of half an hour or so.

the cork airport bus also stops in Raheen. the fact that 2 of the most heavily populated parts of limerick, and the 2 main centres of business are not served by the local airport is certainly a contributing reason for shannons decline.

Cookiemunster

In fairness, anyone in the UL area or Raheen can get the bus into town and then get the 343 out to the airport. Maybe not ideal, but it's not like it can't be done easily enough.

JCX BXC

Cookiemunster wrote: »

In fairness, anyone in the UL area or Raheen can get the bus into town and then get the 343 out to the airport. Maybe not ideal, but it's not like it can't be done easily enough.

I'd agree, it's certainly favourable over sitting on a bus the whole way to Dublin Airport!

Poxyshamrock

marno21 wrote: »

The Stobart flights to Edinburgh and Birmingham are expensive compared to Ryanair and don't contribute many passengers to the airport. The AT76's have 1/3rd or so the capacity of a Ryanair plane and are slower and bumpier. Paying at least 4x the price to fly on a ATR with a longer and bumpier flight time isn't as appealing. In fact flying to Manchester with Ryanair and getting the train to Birmingham would be better.

I use the Birmingham flight quite often and it’s almost always full and it’s a daily service. Fares are as low as €34.99 if you book in advance.

The idea of travelling to Manchester to go to Birmingham is less than ideal. You’re only saving about 30 minutes of flight time. BHX is 10 minutes from Birmingham City Centre by train, MAN is about 2 hours involving a change at Manchester Piccadilly or Crewe. Not to mention the fact that MAN is a rather unpleasant airport in comparison to BHX.

With the recent announcement by Jaguar to open a design centre in the Mid West, it’s certainly beneficial to have direct daily flights to the West Midlands.

Damiencm

I often browse this forum as I am a massive fan of the airport.

But! We have just come through security in the past few minutes and we and others had a pretty diabolical experience due to a real old grump of a security guard.

We had all our liquids etc (all in smaller than 100ml containers) in 3 ziplock bags, 2 of us. This guy firmly stated that it was one bag per person (never came across this in any airport and we must travel 4 or 5 times a year).

So ok we squeez all our products into 2 ziplock bags... thats no use according to the grump as one of the Zipppys is too large. Request a smaller zippy from mr grump, blank stare even though he handed them to others. The standoff continues until my wife starts rummaging around in our luggage, recalling that we may have a spare zippy from a previous holiday.

Mr grump then stands over us, a good 5 minutes, as we struggle to seal the now packed zippy bags. In the meantime, the queue is building around us causing a delay to everyone else.

Eventually get through to the other side and discover an elderly couple that had just had a similar experience. My wife who is 5 months pregnant is reaching for some herbal relaxation tablets at this stage.

Anyway thats my big vent over, perhaps the rule really is one small zippy per person but in years of travelling this has never happened before!

Not exactly what you want when your trying to attract passengers to an airport

Shn99

Damiencm wrote: »

I often browse this forum as I am a massive fan of the airport.

But! We have just come through security in the past few minutes and we and others had a pretty diabolical experience due to a real old grump of a security guard.

We had all our liquids etc (all in smaller than 100ml containers) in 3 ziplock bags, 2 of us. This guy firmly stated that it was one bag per person (never came across this in any airport and we must travel 4 or 5 times a year).

So ok we squeez all our products into 2 ziplock bags... thats no use according to the grump as one of the Zipppys is too large. Request a smaller zippy from mr grump, blank stare even though he handed them to others. The standoff continues until my wife starts rummaging around in our luggage, recalling that we may have a spare zippy from a previous holiday.

Mr grump then stands over us, a good 5 minutes, as we struggle to seal the now packed zippy bags. In the meantime, the queue is building around us causing a delay to everyone else.

Eventually get through to the other side and discover an elderly couple that had just had a similar experience. My wife who is 5 months pregnant is reaching for some herbal relaxation tablets at this stage.

Anyway thats my big vent over, perhaps the rule really is one small zippy per person but in years of travelling this has never happened before!

Not exactly what you want when your trying to attract passengers to an airport

Very surprised to hear this. Every time I’ve flown through SNN the staff have been very pleasant and helpful. I suggest you make a complaint

Poxyshamrock

Damiencm wrote: »

We had all our liquids etc (all in smaller than 100ml containers) in 3 ziplock bags, 2 of us. This guy firmly stated that it was one bag per person (never came across this in any airport and we must travel 4 or 5 times a year).

That is the rule though. You've just been lucky, I guess. One bag person, otherwise we could all bring as much liquid as we wanted, just split into several clear bags.

First time for everything though. I got stopped for the first time recently for bringing my grenade-shaped bottle of Viktor and Rolf Spicebomb through security. Never had issues with it before.

JCX BXC

Never had an issue in Shannon security, one of the most friendly if not the most friendly I've ever been through, however there can be exceptions of course.

The rule is yes, only 1 per person. Often see people being caught with this in Dublin. To be honest I just prefer to try get everything within the rules as it's not worth dealing with a cranky staff member the times you come across them, which is more often than not when travelling through big airports.

Brennans Row

Shannon can support a viable network of flights says Willie Walsh (Business World)

The CEO of IAG, Willie Walsh addressed an audience of almost 300 business executives at Shannon Chamber’s president’s lunch in Dromoland Castle Hotel last Friday.

The event was sponsored by aircraft leasing company, GECAS, and supported by leading aviation companies such as Eirtech Aviation, IAC, Atlantic Aviation Group, Lufthansa Technik, Shannon Airport and the local council, Clare County Council.

Mr Walsh said that while there may be bigger opportunities in continental Europe for International Airlines Group’s stable of airline brands, IAG, through Aer Lingus, will look at opportunities for Shannon. Describing Aer Lingus as the “trophy asset”, Walsh said that IAG’s rationale for purchasing the airline was the opportunity offered by its transatlantic network, the benefits from Ireland’s geographic position, both for Shannon and Dublin, and pre-clearance, which, he said, is the envy of a lot of airports around the world.

Welcoming Mr Walsh to Dromoland, Shannon Chamber president Julie Dickerson did question why Aer Lingus would extend its main hub in Dublin, creating additional congestion at the airport and the M50 motorway, when Shannon and Cork have underutilised capacity and the infrastructure, Mr Walsh pointed out that Aer Lingus would not have been able to introduce the new Seattle to Dublin route if it didn’t have customers flying from Europe and the UK into Dublin to connect.

When asked about the brexit, Mr Walsh said, "I don’t see it impacting on us in the medium to long-term as we believe people will continue to fly. There will be a comprehensive Air Transport Agreement between the EU and the UK and this agreement will be good for all parties. It would be a retrograde step if the EU was not to reach an agreement with the UK. There will be challenges as anything that impacts negatively on the UK economy will impact negatively on Ireland’s economy."

He added, "Nevertheless, I am quite pessimistic about the economics of the UK and Europe and that we will overcome and get back to a normal trading relationship over time."

tv221

Another planning Notice:
Development Description: for proposed alterations and refurbishment works to the New Terminal Building at Shannon Airport. The development, within a Strategic Development Zone, will consist of upgrade works to the existing arrivals Hall at Shannon Airport including alterations to the existing southern and eastern elevations and provision of additional floor area of 42.5m2 to facilitate new Café and 16m2 for ancillary accommodation

JCX BXC

Interesting comments by Willie Walsh, while I assume alot of it is simply just words in a speech, it does inspire confidence for them to remain in Shannon and possibly even expand, unlike what BA has done with airports outside of London in the UK.

Brennans Row

Thomas Cook Flight DK1304 from Helsinki to Tenerife diverted to Shannon today.

Reason unknown.

Shn99

Brennans Row wrote: »

Thomas Cook Flight DK1304 from Helsinki to Tenerife diverted to Shannon today.

Reason unknown.

Had a fuel transfer issue, refueling

Brennans Row

JCX BXC wrote: »

Interesting comments by Willie Walsh, while I assume alot of it is simply just words in a speech, it does inspire confidence for them to remain in Shannon and possibly even expand, unlike what BA has done with airports outside of London in the UK.

Any type of business will do.

First British Airways "Dove" to have its feathers plucked back to standard colours was rolled out of the IAC paint hangar at Shannon (Malcolm Nason)

Brennans Row

Possible service to Cyprus mit Cobalt Air mentioned in the Independent.

JCX BXC

Brennans Row wrote: »

Possible service to Cyprus mit Cobalt Air mentioned in the Independent.

Mentions of it too on PPRUNE, as well as a possible A330 on the BOS route (may be wishful thinking though)

Booking engine confirm new Newark times with United too (as reported on PPRUNE)

Shannon-Newark 12:30-14:45
Newark-Shannon 9:55-9:15

Pity in my view.

finbarrk

The 09.00 departure was much better.

Brennans Row

Jobs boost for Shannon with US aircraft materials company to open European base (Limerick Leader)

A US aircraft materials company has announced its intention to establish a European base at Shannon, creating 25 jobs in the process.

Jetpower Aircraft Materials Limited said it planned to open at the Shannon Free Zone Business Park, having secured a 25,000 sq ft premises, and joins a growing aviation cluster at the International Aviation Services Centre in Shannon.

Michele Viani, Head of Business Development for Jetpower, who have a number of Irish-based leasing company customers, such as AerCap, said the company was “very pleased to join Shannon’s aviation cluster”.

“It is part of the Jetpower strategy to locate our operations in aviation hubs that match our customer locations and provide tremendous growth opportunities,” she said.

highlydebased

Having a look at the new planning application for the landside arrivals area. Looks like the new cafe will be situated to the left as you arrive in the door from the bus stop and all the car hire places will be moved.

No doubt all the work will be done during the summer!!

Brennans Row

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

American will resume PHL on 4 April 2018 (ex SNN).

Quiet a boost, it may well mean a run into October 2018 as well.

American Airline’s Shannon Airport team win international competition (News)

For the first time, American’s team at Shannon Airport, led by General Manager Shirley Carroll, exceeded their targets in all five operational metrics by over 100% to win the ‘Category 2 Customer Cup’ for the third quarter of 2017, beating other similarly sized international airports to the title.

The airline operates a Shannon-Philadelphia summer season service and such has its success been that it is bringing it back a month earlier in 2018, starting on April 5th and operating through to October 1st. Announced in August, as the airline continues to build on the growing demand for flights between Shannon and its Philadelphia hub, the expansion will add an additional 50 return flights and 7,000 passengers.

Their 2018 expansion is limited to April.

JCX BXC

JCX BXC wrote: »

as well as a possible A330 on the BOS route

Reports of that on this site too, would be a massive boost if it did occur. An A330 for the summer months would be a massive boost in capacity.

Brennans Row

The UK Airport Provisional Statistics for October are out.

Brennans Row

No New Health Fees (Arab Times)

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 9: Acting Minister of Health Dr Jamal Al-Harbi has said no new health fees will be imposed on the expatriates, reports Al-Jarida daily. . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Al-Harbi said he has instructed the Overseas Medical Treatment Department to coordinate with Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) to start routing flights of patients from Kuwait to the United States of America through Heathrow Airport in London instead of Shannon Airport in Ireland. The officials should follow up flights directly to the places of treatment in the United States. This decision was taken due to a stop over and search of patients that occurred in Shannon.

This situation prompted the ministry to deal with another airline to transport the patients from London to the United States to avoid difficulties before they arrived in New York where they needed to change flight to their final destination. He affirmed this decision was taken after obtaining approval from the Social Affairs and Labor minister in coordination with KAC. He said Head of the Health Office in Washington Dr Ali Al-Enezi mooted the idea in his efforts to ensure the patients will travel without any stress.

Hopefully the airport is aware of this and that they make the stop over to clear US emigration at Shannon a positive experience.

JCX BXC

What they want is for medical patients not to be searched at all, which quite frankly isn't an option as it's a security threat.