Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the first day of 2013 when Shannon Airport separated from DAA, a very impressive business plan outlined the benefits for the airport. It predicted 2.5 million passengers by 2021 and 3,000 new aviation jobs within five years, but Shannon Airport has failed to come anywhere near those figures. Despite these failures, the airport authority had announced an investment plan. However, this investment plan appears to be downgrading the airport and its operations and reducing staff numbers. It is essentially the opposite of the 2012 business plan. It appears to be lowering the status of the airport from category 9 to category 7. It will also limit the number of larger aeroplanes that can fly there and will mean that emergency stops can no longer take place at Shannon Airport. Is the plan now to reduce Shannon to a regional airport or to an airport that will only deal with a small number of airlines flying to a small number of destinations?

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