Shannon airport's future growth lies not with the maintenance of the current Shannon stop-over, but with new routes being opened to the US, the Minister for Transport, Mr Seamus Brennan said yesterday.
Mr Brennan was speaking at the formal opening of a new aircraft maintenance facility in Shannon, where Air Atlanta Aero Engineering (AAAE) announced the creation of 60 new jobs.
In his strongest indication yet that the Shannon stop-over will be traded for the opening-up of new Aer Lingus routes to the US, Minister Brennan said: "The stop-over is not the real business for Shannon airport, the real source of business is getting more US business.
"We must accept that change is inevitable and can only be for the better. The future of Shannon is not inextricably linked to the stop-over."
Mr Brennan revealed that the new designate airport authority for Shannon "is having preliminary talks with a whole range of airlines and they are optimistic about that".
He said that in a new "open skies" deal, 15 destinations to the US could be available instead of the current capped number of five.
He said: "This would double or treble the number of routes from Ireland into the US and then all our airports will benefit.
"There is a huge future for Shannon airport, but we have to change our thinking and realise it doesn't only rely on a legal nicety, that its future depends on a strong airport authority getting more business from the UK, Europe and increasingly from the US."
Mr Brennan's statement provoked an angry response from SIGNAL, the Shannon workers' lobby.
"Shannon's dual-gateway status cannot be used as a bargaining chip to secure extra routes for Aer Lingus to the US," said a SIGNAL spokesman. "That is unacceptable.
"Shannon's gateway status is an example of balanced regional development working extremely well and it would be criminal if the Government was to dismantle that policy."
The spokesman said that before the Minister signs off on any new deal, it should be presented to business, unions and politicians in the Mid-West.
However in Shannon yesterday, Minister Brennan said that the Government would not sign up to a new EU-US "open skies" deal unless it received assurances that in any new arrangement Shannon airport would have the same level of business as it does now.
In the ongoing "open skies" negotiations, the Minister said that he was demanding a section that dealt exclusively with the future of Shannon airport.
"In my negotiations with the the US Secretary for Transport and the EU Transport Commissioner, I have made it quite clear that I would not agree to any changes until they satisfy me that the future of Shannon is secured." He indicated that the stop-over would be phased out over time.
