Shannon Airport can be part of the solution to relieving the passenger cap in Dublin Airport which is due to be breached this year, its chief executive has said.
“It isn’t normal to have 86 per cent market share going into one airport when you have under utilised airport capacity in the other airports in the country” Mary Considine said.
Speaking on RTÉ, she said Shannon could bring passengers closer to where they ultimately want to go in the West of Ireland.
“We believe Shannon Airport is crucial to rebalancing Ireland’s aviation landscape.”
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Passenger numbers have grown by 7 per cent until the end of August when compared with the same period last year, Ms Considine said, but the airport has “capacity to grow”.
On Wednesday, Dublin Airport operator DAA said record-breaking travel demand would see passenger numbers exceed its annual 32 million passenger cap this year, a limit previously imposed as a planning condition.
Ms Considine contended the cap represented a chance to re-evaluate the airport system across the State.
Shannon Airport is due to see 2 million passengers this year and is working to bring customers more choice and more routes from the airport in the future.
It is on the back of a total investment of more than €178 million in the past number of years as well as upgrades to both infrastructure and property.
One of these investments is the airport’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 51 per cent by 2030 with a view to reaching net zero by 2050.
A report published by Oxford Economics last year found the Shannon Airport Group contributes almost €4 billion to the State’s gdp as well as supporting more than 20,300 jobs.
The airport has been granted planning permission to build a solar farm on a 5.5 acre site in its airfield which will provide between 15 to 20 per cent of the electricity for the airport.
It comes as Shannon Airport celebrated its 10th anniversary on Thursday with the airport now offering flights to 33 destinations across Europe, the UK and the United States.
Shannon Airport Group was contacted for comment.
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