THE CHAIRMAN of the Shannon Airport Authority, Pat Shanahan, expects a 10 per cent drop in passenger numbers on US routes into the airport this year, as the Shannon stopover formally ends under the Open Skies treaty which came into force yesterday.
However, Mr Shanahan said he anticipated passenger numbers on US routes to increase over the next number of years.
Under the treaty, which expands transatlantic air travel, airlines will no longer have to land some US flights at Shannon.
There will be lower capacity on transatlantic fights into Shannon following the decision by American Airlines and Air Canada to pull out of the airport last year and the reduction in services operated by Continental Airlines and Delta.
Mr Shanahan said: "We anticipated a drop in transatlantic traffic and have built this into our business plan, but our figures have remained strong nevertheless.
"Overall, we are anticipating a 10 per cent drop in 2008 but are confident about the future beyond this year. Late last year we put together a very attractive route incentives package to transatlantic operators and, needless to say, we are extremely happy that Aer Lingus, Delta and Continental have made commitments."
Co Clare hotelier Michael Vaughan, chairman of the Irish Hotel Federation's Shannon branch, was upbeat about the region's prospects, despite the stopover ending.
"The worst is over and I don't see any dramatic decrease in the number of US visitors coming to the region."
The stopover has already been diluted with more direct flights to Dublin from the US and less stop-offs at Shannon. Passengers on US routes peaked in 2006 with 780,917 and declined to 746,551 last year.
Mr Vaughan said: "We have relied on the crutch of forced landings at Shannon for a long time and we now have to stand on our own two feet and offer compelling reasons as to why people should visit the west of Ireland."
A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said the airline had taken advantage of Open Skies in advance of the treaty coming into effect by launching routes from Dublin to Washington DC, San Francisco and Orlando in the second half of last year.
