Resurrecting a rule compelling transatlantic flights to the Republic to stop at Shannon Airport would be “bizarre”, warned Kenny Jacobs, chief executive of State company DAA, at the weekend.
Cathal Crowe, Fianna Fáil TD for Clare, recently called for legislation demanding that flights stop at Shannon, in line with a “stopover” rule that Government axed in 2008, according to trade publication Travelextra.
Mr Jacobs, whose company runs Dublin Airport, said at the weekend that the suggestion that airlines stop at Shannon before travelling on to their final destination was “bizarre”.
He added that compelling airlines to take up regional routes if they want slots at Dublin Airport was similarly misguided.
“This represents weak 1980s thinking, and it goes against EU law and regulation and what it means to be an open economy. It is also anti-passenger,” he said.
Mr Crowe chairs the Oireachtas Shannon Airport group, a cross-party body established to lobby Government for the midwest gateway.
The group aims to advance policies that support Shannon and the development of new routes there, and to seek continued State aid for it through the Regional Airports Programme.
The Shannon stopover was part of an Irish-US air travel agreement and required a certain number of transatlantic flights to stop at the Co Clare airport. Government ended the rule in 2008 as EU law liberalised air travel, and the bloc struck new deals with the US opening both jurisdictions’ skies to each other’s airlines.
Shannon has direct services to the US, including Boston, Chicago and New York. Local politicians and business groups see these routes as key to luring tourists and investment to the midwest.
Mr Jacobs noted that all transatlantic carriers opposed a Shannon stopover.
He said Cork Airport, also part of the State-owned DAA, was the Republic’s fastest growing airport because it “has a good growth plan, not because it is calling for airlines wanting to fly to Dublin to be compelled to stop over at Cork”.
Political calls to resurrect the stopover follow concerns that transatlantic air travel could face pressure this year.
Recent US federal government figures showed sharp falls in passengers flying there from European countries, including Ireland.
The March report from its International Trade Administration showed 38,852 Irish people flew there last month, against 53,158 during the same period in 2024. Visitors from Germany and Norway were also down significantly.
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Media reports blamed turmoil sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and his administration’s criticism of Europe for the falls in traffic.
However, Irish industry sources suggested that the controversial 32 million a year limit imposed on Dublin Airport played a role in the dip.
Tom Randles, president of the Irish Travel Agents Association and managing director of well-known travel agency Barters TravelNet, said Aer Lingus services to Nashville and Las Vegas were selling well.
He noted there had been a “small drop” in holidaymakers travelling to Orlando in Florida, and the US west coast.
“We do expect the US leisure market to pick up again at the end of the month,” said Mr Randles.
DAA has sought planning permission to increase Dublin Airport’s passenger limit.
