Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government decided to separate Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, and form a new integrated Shannon entity in public ownership, Shannon Group, comprising the airport and a restructured Shannon Development. The assets, business and employees of the airport were transferred from the DAA to the Shannon Airport Authority, SAA, on 31 December 2012 following approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas of the Shannon appointed day order. The State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014 which provides, inter alia, for the transfer of the SAA and Shannon Development to a public limited company is before the Oireachtas.

A major consideration for the Government in its decision to separate Shannon Airport from the DAA was the serious decline in passenger traffic at the airport in recent years. Shannon Airport was loss making from 2008 to 2012 and passenger numbers plummeted by over 60% from a peak of 3.64 million in 2006 to 1.39 million in 2012.

A consistent decline on this scale was always going to be challenging to address.

The immediate priority for the new SAA board which I re-established last year and management at the airport was to halt this decline. The outturn for last year of 1.4 million passengers marginally exceeded that for 2012 and was a major achievement for Shannon in its first year as an independent airport. It is a tribute to its board, management and staff. With the commencement of new routes and increased services, Shannon Airport is looking forward to new and sustainable growth this year and beyond. Figures for the first five months of the year auger well, with passenger numbers up by more than 10% on the same period last year.

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