The Mayor of Shannon has called on management at Delta Airlines to review their decision to cease the airline’s Shannon to New York service on October 4th next.Councillor Sean McLoughlin said the American carrier’s basis for ending the 13 year-old service did not stand up. He said: “The airline claimed that low yield factors had determined their decision to end the service. However, the service carried 30,000 passengers last winter alone. Furthermore, the number of persons using the service has dramatically increased in recent weeks. One flight this weekend, for example, was operating at full capacity. Much of these increases can be attributed to the introduction of pre-clearance facilities at Shannon and the airline’s decision to lower its fares.”
“Aer Lingus’s announcement that it will not be utilising the US pre-clearance facilities until mid-2010 at the earliest, along with the imminent withdrawal of Delta’s long standing service and ongoing doubts over the future of Aer Lingus’s Shannon to New York service have completely undermined efforts at Shannon Airport to develop new business. The opportunities presented to airlines by the presence of the pre-clearance facilities are numerous but appear to be having little impact on business growth at the airport at present”, commented the Mayor.
Councillor McLoughlin suggested that the Shannon Airport Authority should introduce an additional landing charge incentive scheme in a bid to boost transatlantic traffic and attract new operators. He continued: “Evidence from around the world indicates that incentive schemes for airlines planning to operate new long haul routes are very successful and generate significant benefits for the airports in question. The Shannon Airport Authority, in conjunction with the Dublin Airport Authority, should explore such options as a 5-Year incentive scheme which could offer free landing and parking charges for the first 3 years, as well as 75% and 50% discounts for the following 2 years respectively. Another possibility would be to offer 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 15% discounts respectively on landing and parking charges.”
“If Shannon Airport is to ever be afforded independent status then it must be given a free hand in matters such as its own marketing strategies. If this does not happen then I fear that Shannon Airport’s transatlantic business will continue to decline”, concluded Mayor McLoughlin.
