Shannon has had better years

Shannon fared rather worse than the other airports under the DAA umbrella in 2008. A total of 3.1m passengers travelled through Shannon last year, a 12% drop over 2007. The Shannon Airport Authority put the drop in numbers down to the implementation of the EU - US Open Skies agreement and the loss of the Heathrow slots. The Authority however feel that they have a plan in place to mitigate against these circumstances and in fact note that with the partial return of the Heathrow slots that the airport now has better conectivity with Europe than ever before when the CityJet service to Paris is taken into consideration.

In 2008, transatlantic traffic fell 23% YoY and terminal traffic fell 10%.

The outlook for 2009 is quite promising if not challenging. The opening of the full US Customs and Border Patrol pre clearance facility in July will be the first such facility outside the Continental Americas. Four transatlantic carriers are commmitted to serving the airport this summer with Aer Lingus, Continental, Delta and US Airways. While Delta have decided to drop the Shannon - Atlanta route this year they have committed to serving New York on a year round basis.