A new survey has revealed that 80 per cent of people who use Shannon airport choose to fly from the midwest airport for reasons of convenience and ease of access, with only 10 per cent choosing it for low fares.
With traffic growth at the airport having increased by 50 per cent over the last three years alone, reaching a record 3.1 million international passengers in 2007, research has shown that more and more passengers are favouring Shannon as their gateway airport because of ease of access and convenience.
The survey of some 6,000 passengers was carried out by Shannon airport's marketing team as part of a major new branding campaign launched at the weekend, which will include re-branding for signage, advertising, printed literature and online media.
With significant infrastructure improvements in the region set to increase Shannon's catchment area (within 90 minutes of the airport) from 600,000 to more than one million people by 2010, the future is looking very bright for the airport, marketing manager Declan Power said.
The airport's strong point - accessibility - was going to get even stronger, he said, and the new brand image reflects this. The symbol is an energetic "S" which embodies a sense of movement and opportunity, said Mr Power, and the strategy of the airport to continually move forward and adapt to its challenges and opportunities.
Passengers surveyed were predominantly from Shannon's main catchment areas - Clare, Galway, Limerick and Tipperary - as well as counties such as Cork, Laois, Mayo and Roscommon.