IRELAND: Two more airlines ferrying US troops to the Gulf have decided to stop using Shannon Airport, just days before anti-war demonstrators gather for a major protest at the airport.
According to local sources, North American Airlines and Miami Airlines said the security around Shannon was "of concern to them", following a series of attacks on US aircraft by anti-war protesters since the beginning of the year.
Last year Shannon earned €9 million in landing fees, refuelling and shopping from US charter airlines carrying troops to the Gulf. World Airlines quit Shannon three weeks ago following an attack upon a US Navy aircraft, which allegedly caused $500,000 worth of damage.
World Airlines said it transferred flights from Shannon to its Frankfurt operation because Frankfurt had suffered a downturn in business, rather than because of security fears.
A spokesman for Aer Rianta said they had not been told officially of the airlines' decision up to 9 p.m last night: "We are trying to contact them, but we believe that it is true," he told The Irish Times.
A Defence Forces detachment has been based in Shannon since the attacks on US aircraft. "You could argue that the place has become more secure since they arrived, rather than less," said one source last night.
An anti-war group, Grassroots Network Against War, said yesterday it was planning to tear down the perimeter fence at Shannon Airport and engage in a "mass trespass" next Saturday.
The group is organising the attempted trespass to disrupt the continued refuelling of US warplanes at Shannon.
It claims it will "not attempt to occupy the runway or to reach any planes" but that the "purpose of this action is to demonstrate that the State can not secure the 'warport' against the anger of the people".
Grassroots Network Against War claims to be a "network of groups and individuals active against the war, formed at the Grassroots gathering in Belfast in September 2002".
There will be a "very strong security presence" at Shannon Airport on Saturday, according to an Aer Rianta spokeswoman.
"Any threat to cause intentional damage is taken very seriously, especially when it is posted up on a website," she said. "They have shown their hand now. We will be watching them very closely. Security has been strengthened along the perimeter fence," she added.
The group is suggesting different levels of participation to protesters, ranging from that of solidarity observers and "participative" observers carrying pink flags to "active" protesters carrying white flags who intend dismantling the perimeter fence.
The group emphasised that "although this is going to be an entirely non-violent protest, those who participate in it do face certain risks. There is a certain risk of arrest or violence from the police".
Other anti-war movements such as the Irish Anti-War Movement have planned peaceful protests in Shannon also on Saturday.
The chairman of the IAWM, Mr Richard Boyd-Barrett, said the group expected several thousand protesters to join a march from Shannon town to the terminal building. "It is going to be a peaceful march. Grassroots Network Against War are an independent group separate from us."