Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

The State Airports Act 2004 provides for the separation of Cork and Shannon Airports into independent autonomous airports and Dublin, Cork and Shannon airport authorities submitted business plans on this objective in 2008. Following consideration of these plans and the recommendations of the boards of the three airport authorities, in late 2008 the Minister announced the deferral until 2011 of a decision on the separation of the airports given the current very difficult circumstances in the aviation sector. In the meantime, new governance arrangements were agreed by the boards and have since been put in place. The new arrangements provide for appropriate delegation of responsibility for the management and promotion of the airports, subject to the necessary accountability to the DAA board in respect of annual budgets, airport charges policy and capital expenditure. The arrangements also provide for reciprocal membership of the boards of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, the Cork Airport Authority, CAA, and the Shannon Airport Authority, SAA, whereby the chairman of the CAA and SAA are members of the DAA board and the DAA has a senior executive nominee on the boards of the CAA and SAA.

In recent years, passenger traffic at Shannon Airport has fallen significantly. In 2009 it totalled just under 2.8 million, a reduction of 12% on 2008. Most medium-sized European airports reported a reduction in passenger numbers of between 10% and 20% in 2009 owing to the economic downturn and its effect on airline travel. In 2009 Ryanair stated that it was unwilling to provide the level of services agreed under a five-year arrangement with the Shannon Airport Authority. As a result it withdrew a number of its aircraft and routes from Shannon which directly led to the loss of approximately 600,000 passengers in 2009. That loss was partly offset by the restoration of the London Heathrow service by Aer Lingus.

However, the full annual impact of the reduction in Ryanair services has only begun to be seen in 2010. In addition, traffic this year has been adversely impacted by generally weak demand resulting from the prevailing economic conditions worldwide and by exceptional circumstances such as the volcanic ash disruption. On an ongoing basis, the airport management is in discussions with airlines to encourage the introduction of new services from Shannon. Already this year, services to four UK cities were introduced from July 2010 by the Aer Lingus regional-Aer Arann franchise. Marketing efforts are continuing with a number of airlines on other short haul routes.

In addition I expect both the DAA and the Shannon Airport Authority to exploit the opportunities available with the US preclearance facility at Shannon to increase passenger traffic through Shannon Airport. Currently, Shannon Airport is the only airport in the world outside the Americas which offers full preclearance services. US preclearance has the potential to deliver significant new business for Shannon Airport.

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