Shannon to reduce airport charges

Shannon Airport will substantially reduce its airport charges on transatlantic routes in response to the ending of the Shannon stopover.

The chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority, Pat Shanahan, said yesterday that charges to transatlantic carriers "will be substantially reduced over the next three years".

Mr Shanahan also announced that, in a bid to secure year-round transatlantic services, the authority is offering a 30 per cent rebate scheme from next November for airlines operating a winter schedule.

The phased ending of the "stop-over" begins in November 2007 and will be complete by April 2008.

Up until now, the stopover arrangement has guaranteed that 50 per cent of flights to and from the US go through Shannon.

Mr Shanahan admitted that Shannon's long-standing "dual gateway status", "has given Shannon a negative perception in the marketplace and particularly within the airline sector".

He said: "The ending of the regulation will, in itself, clear the air and allow us to develop constructive co-operative business with transatlantic carriers.

"This must be done on a fully commercial basis. There is no other way."

Mr Shanahan said that, along with reduced charges, "other incentives will also be introduced and we support the implementation of a major tourism marketing campaign in the US, which will greatly increase demand for accessing the west through Shannon".

He said the lower charges and rebate scheme would result in airlines "receiving significant reductions in their cost of operating at Shannon".

Mr Shanahan said he expects that Shannon's market share of transatlantic traffic would drop from 40 to 30 per cent in an "open skies" environment to date this year.

The authority's plans for transatlantic traffic yesterday received a boost with Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion committing the airline to its current level of 400,000 passengers out of Shannon on a year-round basis in an open skies environment.

Currently, the airline employs 400 staff at Shannon.

Mr Mannion said that he was operating "very much in sync" with the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, and his department on Aer Lingus's commitment to Shannon in relation to the transatlantic routes.

However, Mr Mannion could not commit to announcing any new routes out of Shannon, either to the US or Europe, in the near future.