Shannon Airport

Shannon Airport Aerfort na Sionainne
IATA: SNN ICAO: EINN
Summary
Airport type	Commercial
Owner	Government of Ireland
Operator	Shannon Development
Serves	Limerick City, Ireland
Location	Shannon, County Clare
Elevation AMSL	46 ft / 14 m
Website	www.shannonairport.com
Map
SNN Location in Ireland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 06/24 3,199 10,495 Asphalt
Statistics (2013)
Passengers 1,400,032 Passenger change 12-13 0.4% Aircraft Movements 18,012 Movements change 12-13 1.2%
Source: Irish AIS Passengers Aircraft Movements

Shannon Airport (Template:Lang-ga) (IATA: SNN, ICAO: EINN) is one of Ireland's three primary airports, along with Dublin and Cork. In 2013, 1.40 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the country after Dublin and Cork. Shannon Airport is in Shannon, County Clare and mainly serves Limerick, Ennis, Galway, and the south-west of Ireland.

Shannon holds an important place in Ireland's aviation history as it was the first transatlantic gateway between Ireland and the US, and the birthplace of Duty-free shopping and of aviation leasing.

History

In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary. However, it was realised that changing technology would require a permanent runway and airport.

In 1936, the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a 3.1 km² (1.2 sq mi) site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport. The land on which the airport was to be built was boggy, and on 8 October 1936 work began to drain the land. By 1942 a serviceable airport had been established and was named Shannon Airport. By 1945 the existing runways at Shannon were extended to allow transatlantic flights to land.

When World War II ended, the airport was ready to be used by the many new post-war commercial airlines of Europe and North America. On 16 September 1945 the first transatlantic proving flight, a Pan Am DC-4, landed at Shannon from New York City. On 24 October, the first scheduled commercial flight, an American Overseas Airlines DC-4, passed through Shannon Airport.

File:Shannon Airport.jpg

Shannon Airport, 1961

The number of international carriers rose sharply in succeeding years as Shannon became well known as the gateway between Europe and the Americas; limited aircraft range necessitated refuelling stops on many journeys. Shannon became the most convenient stopping point before and after a trip across the Atlantic. Additionally, during the Cold War, many transatlantic flights from the Soviet Union stopped here for refuelling, because Shannon was (and is today, though it no longer matters in this sense) the westernmost non-NATO airport.

The longest runway in Ireland, at 3,199 metres (10,495 ft), is located at Shannon. It was a designated landing site for the Space Shuttle. The "Bank of Ireland Runway Night Run", to take place on 4 July 2014, will have "over 1,000" people running along the runway to raise money for charity.

Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport through 2008. In 2007, Shannon carried 3.2 million passengers. However, after a disagreement with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in 2008, Ryanair announced that the number of based aircraft would reduce from 4 to 1 and 150 jobs would be lost. Services were cut by 75% and 32 Ryanair routes from the airport were reduced to 8.

CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights. The company based an Avro RJ85 at Shannon. More services were under consideration, including a route to London City Airport; however CityJet pulled out of Shannon in October 2009 after Aer Lingus reinstated its Heathrow flights.

2010-present

Aer Arann launched services to 4 UK destinations in 2010 under the Aer Lingus Regional Banner. One ATR 72 was based at Shannon and flies regularly to Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Manchester. Aer Lingus Regional also discontinued its Shannon to Glasgow service during October 2011. Aer Lingus Regional restarted Shannon to Bristol service from 3 April 2014, this route having been discontinued during September 2012. It based an additional ATR plane in Shannon as a result.

In 2011, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 7.4% from 1,755,885 (2010), to 1,625,549 (2011). In 2012, passenger numbers at Shannon declined by 230,000 to 1.39m from the 1.62m who passed through the airport in 2011.

The last quarter of 2012 saw a resurgence for Shannon, with new services announced for Philadelphia (US Airways) and Chicago (United Airlines), a return of Aer Lingus to JFK and Boston, and Delta to JFK, giving Shannon direct services to five US airports for 2013. It remains, along with Dublin Airport, one of only two airports in the Republic of Ireland with flights to and from the US and, from a transatlantic perspective, services the entire west coast of Ireland.

In November 2012, Aer Lingus also confirmed a new three-times-weekly service to Faro, Portugal, operating from May to September with an Airbus A320, strengthening Shannon's summer-sun destinations.

In December 2012, it was announced that Shannon Airport would separate from the Dublin Airport Authority, who still own Dublin and Cork airports. On 31 December 2012 at 11:59 pm, Shannon Airport became a publicly owned commercial airport and is now operated and run by the Shannon Airport Authority plc.

The first passengers through the newly autonomous airport arrived on the Aer Lingus EI-110 flight from JFK at 5:08 am on 1 January 2013 (New Year's Day). Flybe has announced a thrice-weekly year-round flight to Glasgow International to start on 1 May 2013. Shannon Airport also welcomed the early launch of the Aer Lingus summer schedule to the US as a vote of confidence in transatlantic services at Shannon.

In March 2013, the new company appointed Neil Pakey as its first CEO. Traffic figures for June 2013 report an 8% increase on the previous year, the first time a traffic increase has been recorded in three years. On 21 March 2013, Ryanair announced a new twice-weekly route to Alicante, Spain to begin on 5 June for the summer months. This brings Shannon's total to 33 seasonal scheduled summer routes. In October 2013, United Airlines confirmed it will increase capacity by 88% on its Shannon-Chicago route for 2014. Ryanair also announced 8 new routes from Shannon to continental Europe. The new routes will begin from the start of April 2014, and a second Boeing 737-800 will be based at Shannon to accommodate the extra 300,000 passengers a year it will bring. Destinations announced were Berlin Schonefeld, Paris-Beauvais, Memmingen, Warsaw Modlin, Kraków, Nice, Faro, and Fuerteventura.

In November 2013, Aer Lingus announced a new twice-weekly service from Shannon to Malaga. The new service will begin on 30 March 2014 and will operate every Wednesday and Sunday.

It has been hinted that a route to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol or Frankfurt Airport could commence in 2015.

Duty-free

In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport; although "duty-free" shopping is not applicable any more for flights within the European Union, EU-bound passengers can still buy goods, but have to pay the normal taxes. Shannon became a model for other duty-free facilities worldwide. For most goods, passengers can buy the same goods regardless of their destination: the only difference will be made in charging VAT at check-out. An exception to this are tobacco products, as all tobacco products sold in Ireland need to have an excise stamp, while this does not apply for "real" duty-free tobacco. As the prices for tobacco in Ireland are among the highest in the world, there is little or no demand for tobacco at Irish airports for EU flights.

Transatlantic services to the US

In 1958, the Irish airline Aer Lingus began transatlantic service to the United States, using Lockheed Super Constellations for thrice-weekly service to New York City and Boston.

The 1960s proved to be difficult for Shannon Airport. With the introduction of new long-range jet aircraft, transit traffic fell sharply as the need to refuel at Shannon disappeared.

In 1966, Aer Lingus began service between Shannon and Chicago, with a stop in Montréal, Canada. This route was taken out of service in 1979.

In 1969, it was announced that a new government agency, Aer Rianta (now the Dublin Airport Authority), would be given responsibility for Shannon Airport. Passenger numbers at the airport reached 460,000 that year. With the increase in passengers and the introduction of the Boeing 747, it was decided that a new enlarged terminal was needed. The first commercial operation of a 747 took place in April 1971, while the new terminal officially opened in May that year. In 1974, a major increase in fuel prices had a dramatic effect on transit traffic.

The 1980s saw a number of new airlines arrive at Shannon. Aer Rianta and the Soviet airline Aeroflot signed an agreement and, by 1980, Aeroflot established a fuel farm at Shannon. The fuel farm was to hold Soviet fuel and soon Aeroflot planes were stopping over at Shannon to refuel en route to destinations in South, Central and North America. The number of Aeroflot flights went from 240 aircraft in 1980 to 2,000 aircraft by 1991. In 1989, the US carrier Delta Air Lines launched flights from Shannon and Dublin to Atlanta and New York-JFK. The New York route was dropped after 9/11 but has since re-commenced.

During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle. The bilateral agreement with the United States was renegotiated, resulting in fewer planes being required to stop over in Shannon (see Shannon Stopover below). However, 1996 saw the beginning of Continental Airlines flying between Dublin, Shannon, and Newark, New Jersey.

With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Aeroflot began to suffer, which was a big loss to the airport. Aeroflot had brought 250,000 passengers a year through Shannon.

Shannon began to rebound in the late 1990s with the success of the Irish economy, the improving situation in Northern Ireland, and an influx of American tourists. By the end of the decade Shannon had passenger numbers of 2.2 million and in the year 2000, a new £40 million terminal extension was opened.

Shannon continued to expand during the Celtic Tiger years with many services operated to the US and Canada.

Delta Air Lines operated to Atlanta until 2007. It pulled out of Shannon in 2008, but resumed service to New York JFK in 2010. The service now operates daily from May to November. American Airlines flew to Shannon from Boston and Chicago daily until 2007. Aer Lingus suspended services between Shannon and Chicago in 2008.

US Airways operated daily services to Philadelphia until 2008 using Boeing 757-200 aircraft. In November 2012, the airline announced that it would return to Shannon in Summer 2013 with a daily Philadelphia service operating for the summer only. United Airlines announced a significant boost to Shannon in October 2012 when it announced a Summer service to Chicago, operating 5 times weekly.

Aer Lingus announced on 15 June 2010 that it would be suspending services from Shannon to Boston and New York (JFK) for 11 weeks from January 2011. This is also happening during the Winter 2011–12 season and the upcoming Winter 2012–13 season. The flights will operate between three and four times weekly for the rest of the year with an A330-200 aircraft. On 3 July 2013, Aer Lingus announced that services to New York JFK and Boston will now operate all year round, instead of seasonally. The airline currently has one Airbus A330-200 based at the airport for transatlantic services that operates four times a week to Boston and three times a week to New York. From April 2014, the A330-200 will be removed and two Boeing 757's will replace it, meaning that Boston and New York will now both operate 7 days a week 364 days a year (except Christmas Day).

Shannon stopover

The first Air Services Agreement with the United States in 1945 only permitted flights to Shannon, and only permitted Irish airlines to serve Boston, Chicago, and New York. In 1971, the US Civil Aeronautics Board announced that unless US planes were allowed to operate into Dublin Airport they proposed to ban Aer Lingus from landing in New York. Eventually an agreement was reached which allowed one US carrier, TWA, to service Dublin Airport through Shannon.

In 1990, the US-Irish bilateral agreement was changed to allow Irish airlines to serve Los Angeles and additional US airlines to serve Dublin via Shannon. An amendment in 1993 allowed airlines to provide direct transatlantic services to Dublin, but 50% of transatlantic flights had to either originate or stop over in Shannon.

In 2005, an agreement was reached regarding a transitional period. Beginning in November 2006 and ending in April 2008, the agreement gradually eliminated restrictions on cargo services. For passenger service, it reduced the stopover requirement and allowed Irish airlines to serve three additional US destinations. Furthermore, it was agreed that at the end of this period, no restrictions would be placed on scheduled services between any airport in the one country to any airport in the other.

In 2007, the European Union and the USA announced that an agreement had been reached on an open skies aviation policy. The agreement came into effect from 30 March 2008. This effectively led to the complete abolition of the Shannon Stopover, although this would have happened under the 2005 agreement anyway.

Military stopover issue

Shannon Airport has a history of foreign military use. A large part of its business in recent years has been military stopovers, currently almost all American; however, the airport was also frequently used by the Soviet military until the 1990s, since Ireland, having a traditional policy of military neutrality, was not a member of NATO. There were some restrictions, such as being unarmed, carrying no arms, ammunition, or explosives, and that the flights in question did not form part of military exercises or operations. Shannon saw military transports throughout the Cold War and during the first Gulf War.

In the aftermath of 11 September attacks, the Irish government offered the use of Shannon to the US government. When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the government still allowed United States armed forces to use the airport. This caused much controversy and was the subject of protests and a challenge brought to the High Court. In January 2003, a woman took an axe to the nose cone and fuel lines of a US Navy jet; however, a trial ended in her acquittal. In February 2003, a group known as the Pitstop Ploughshares damaged a United States Navy C-40 Clipper aircraft at the airport. They were tried three separate times and ultimately ended up also being acquitted.

A 2007 survey found 58% of Irish people opposed the use of Shannon for prosecuting the Iraq war.

As of November 2008, approximately 1.2 million troops have passed through Shannon since the beginning of the Iraq War. This has generated significant revenue for the airport and has offset the loss of flights from the end of the Shannon stopover and the general downturn in the global aviation industry.

In 2012–2013, the military flight contracts are held by Omni Air International, which uses Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft, Sun Country Airlines, which uses 737-800 aircraft, and North American Airlines, which uses Boeing 757s.

In 2014, only Omni Air International operate troop transit flights, with an average of 1-2 flights per day

In January 2014, 79 year-old writer and anti-war activist Margaretta D'Arcy was sentenced to three months in prison for scaling the perimeter fence of Shannon Airport in October 2012 in protest at the use of the airport by the US military. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Independent TD Clare Daly have called for her release.

Rendition flight allegations

On 6 December 2005, the BBC programme Newsnight alleged that Shannon was used on at least 33 occasions by United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) flights, thought to be part of a US policy called extraordinary rendition. The New York Times reported the number to be 33, though referring to "Ireland" rather than Shannon, while Amnesty International has alleged the number of flights to be 50. Casement Aerodrome has seen similar claims. The United States and Ireland have denied these allegations.

Facilities

East-facing side of the terminal building

The current airport terminal was opened on 27 March 2000 by then Minister of Transport Mary O'Rourke. This facility has 40 check-in desks, 5 baggage carousels, and 14 boarding gates (including 6 airbridges). There are nearly 20 aircraft parking stands. The car-parks can hold over 5,000 cars.

Much of the older landside section of the airport has been renovated with new 'Shannon Airport' branding. An airside area renovation and passenger separation project was completed in Summer 2010.

Aer Rianta International, a subsidiary of the Dublin Airport Authority, has its head office on the grounds of Shannon Airport. When Eirjet existed, its head office was located on the grounds of Shannon Airport.

US Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance

The United States immigration booths at Shannon prior to the opening of the new Customs and Border Protection facilities (November 2008).

In 1986 a United States border preclearance facility was opened at Shannon, eliminating the need to go through immigration on arrival in the United States. In November 2008, it was announced that customs and agriculture inspections would be added, making Shannon the first airport in Europe to offer this service. This is expected to be a big incentive to attract airlines and corporate jets to Shannon. Shannon Airport spent €21 million on the facilities. To have these facilities put in place a two-story, 7,000 square metre extension to the main terminal building has been constructed. The facility opened the morning of 5 August 2009. The passengers on Continental Airlines flight CO25 from Shannon to Newark were first to use the facilities which give Shannon a unique status.

On 1 March 2010, Shannon Airport became the first airport outside the US to offer US Customs and Border Protection to private aircraft. The US Customs and Border Protection facility that opened at Dublin Airport in January 2011 is used for commercial aircraft only.

British Airways operates a twice-daily business class-only flight from London City Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with a stopover in Shannon. This allows them to take off from the short runway of City Airport, which is located in the London Docklands area and stop for fuel in Shannon. On the earlier flight passengers can use the stop to go through pre-clearance, and arrive in New York without the need to go through immigration or customs. Until October 2012 both flights allowed pre-clearance in Shannon, but an earlier closure of the pre-clearance facility due to US CBP staff cutbacks now means passengers on the later flight have to pass immigration and customs at JFK.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Boston, London-Heathrow, New York-JFK Summer seasonal: Faro, Málaga Winter seasonal: Lanzarote
Aer Lingus Regional operated by Stobart Air	Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester
Air Contractors	Summer seasonal charter: Reus
Air Europa	Summer seasonal charter: Lanzarote, Palma de Mallorca
Air Méditerranée	Summer seasonal charter: Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Strasbourg, Toulouse
Air Transat	Summer seasonal: Toronto-Pearson
Croatia Airlines	Summer seasonal charter: Dubrovnik
Delta Air Lines	Summer seasonal: New York-JFK
Helvetic Airways	Summer seasonal: Zurich
Ryanair	Beauvais, Berlin-Schönefeld, Fuerteventura, Kraków, Lanzarote, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Warsaw-Modlin, Wrocław Summer seasonal: Alicante, Faro, Málaga, Memmingen, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Poitiers, Tenerife-South
United Airlines	Newark Summer seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare
US Airways	Summer seasonal: Philadelphia

Cargo

Shannon's unrestricted runway, round the clock operation, efficient handling, and the presence of many of the major global logistics firms provide a wide range of air cargo options. The significant clusters of export-oriented industry in the West, Mid West, and South of Ireland in particular depend on Shannon's cargo services and facilities for timely access to their major markets.

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation operated by Air Contractors	London-Luton, Nottingham/East Midlands
FedEx Feeder operated by Air Contractors	Cork, Dublin, Manchester, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
TNT Airways	Dublin, Liège
UPS Airlines operated by Star Air	Cologne/Bonn, Dublin

Statistics

Shannon Airport passenger totals 2000-2013 (millions)

Updated: 26 January 2014.

Year	Total passengers	Passengers change YoY
2000	2,400,000
2001	2,400,000	00%
2002	2,300,000	04.2%
2003	2,500,000	08.7%
2004	2,500,000	00.0%
2005	3,302,046	32.1%
2006	3,639,046	10.2%
2007	3,620,623	00.5%
2008	3,169,529	12.5%
2009	2,794,563	11.8%
2010	1,755,885	37.2%
2011	1,625,549	07.4%
2012	1,394,781	14.3%
2013	1,400,032	0.4%

See also: List of busiest airports in the Republic of Ireland

20 busiest routes at Shannon Airport (2013)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% change 2012/13
1	London Heathrow	256,974	3.4
2	London Stansted	183,489	5.2
3	New York Newark	107,407	0.1
4	London Gatwick	104,742	1.7
5	New York JFK	102,614	6.2
6	Boston	72,154	14.5
7	Manchester	53,357	6.9
8	Lanzarote	42,957	4.4
9	Palma de Mallorca	34,331	8.8
10	Wrocław	34,214	1.5
11	Birmingham	31,193	5.7
12	Philadelphia	30,553
13	Edinburgh	29,965	3.7
14	Liverpool	28,922	10.9
15	Málaga	25,487	18.4
16	Faro	24,719	306.8
17	Nantes	22,952	12.4
18	Chicago O'Hare	17,999
19	Alicante	13,185
20	Tenerife-South	11,887	11.8
Source: Central Statistics Office

Ground transportation

Road

N18 near Shannon Airport exit

Shannon Airport is the end destination of the N19 national route, which connects to the N18/M18 Limerick–Ennis–Galway route. A dual carriageway section of the N19 was finished in 2004, bypassing the town of Shannon, and a new interchange and dual carriageway north to Ennis were completed in 2007 on the N18 (M18).

Other

The airport is also served by local taxis. There is a taxi rank outside the arrivals entrance. Car hire is available in the arrivals hall of the terminal building, with eight car rental firms operating at the airport. Private-hire coaches and buses are available from many operators such as Eirebus; these need to be pre-booked and can transport passengers to any destination throughout Ireland.

Shannon Airport offers both short-term and long-term parking within the airport with over 5,000 spaces available. All car parks operate 24 hours and are regularly patrolled by Airport Police.

For many years a rail link to the airport (as a spur from the nearby Limerick–Ennis line) has been proposed, but nothing has materialised. The nearest stations (Ennis railway station and Limerick railway station) require bus or taxi to connect with.

In May of 2014, Donald Trump commended the airport on a visit. He said, “Having an airport so close to a property is such a tremendous advantage . Having a great airport like Shannon, having it for Doonbeg certainly is an asset. We looked at it (airport) very strongly.”

Incidents and accidents

Due to the location of Shannon, it receives a large number of emergency stopovers.

• 16 July 1943 – a British Overseas Airways Corporation de Havilland DH91 Fortuna crash-landed short of the Runway 14 threshold. There were no injuries.

• 18 June 1946 – an Aer Lingus Douglas DC-3, Charlie Alpha, on a domestic flight from Rineanna to Dublin crashed shortly after takeoff with only minor injuries reported.
• 28 December 1946 – TWA Lockheed Constellation Flight 6963 crashed attempting to land at the airport.
• 15 April 1948 – Pan Am Flight 1-10, a Lockheed Constellation crashed attempting to land at the airport.
• 5 September 1954 – Lockheed Super Constellation KLM Flight 633 from Amsterdam to New York Citying Shannon as a refuelling stop, crashed just after takeoff into a mudbank adjacent to the airport. 28 people on board died.
• 15 July 1956 – a Swissair Convair CV-440-11 crashed on approach to the airport due to pilot error. The aircraft was on its delivery flight from San Diego, California to Zürich via New York, Gander, and Shannon. The crash killed all four crew on board.
• 14 August 1958 – Lockheed Super Constellation KLM Flight 607-E from Amsterdam to New York crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after a refuelling stop at Shannon.
• 26 February 1960 – an Alitalia Douglas DC-7C crashed after taking off from the airport, killing 34 people out of 52 passengers and crew on board.
• 10 September 1961 – a President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crashed into the river Shannon after taking off from the airport on a flight to Canada. The disaster killed all 83 passengers and crew, one of the worst air disasters in Ireland's history.
• 30 September 1977 – an Interconair Bristol 175 Britannia 253 overran the airport's runway after severe vibration on the approach. The left wing broke off and caught fire but none of the six crew were injured in the crash.
• 20 June 1979 – American Airlines Flight 293 landed in Shannon after being hijacked.
• 17 July 2011 – Aer Arann ATR 72–212 EI-SLM was damaged beyond economical repair when the nose gear collapsed on landing at Shannon Airport. The aircraft was operating an internationally scheduled passenger flight from Manchester Airport in the UK. There were no injuries amongst the four crew and 21 passengers on board.
• 12 February 2014 - Aer Arann ATR42-300 EI-BYO was blown onto its wing in 160km/h gusts. The aircraft suffered damage to it left side. No injuries were reported as the aircraft was empty at the time of the incident.

External links

Media related to Shannon Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for EINN at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for SNN at Aviation Safety Network