Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of US troops that passed through Shannon Airport in 2011; the location from which they came; and what their destinations were. [3102/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department deals with requests to carry munitions of war or dangerous goods on civilian aircraft under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders, 1973 and 1989.

If weapons are being carried on board, the operator is obliged to seek an exemption from the prohibition on their carriage under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous goods) Order 1973. Applications for these flights identify the airports immediately preceding and following the aircraft's arrival in Shannon. The vast majority of requests for these flights is from American civil airlines and involves flights to or from the United States. The main sources/destinations were Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan.

My Department does not collate information with regard to the number of military troops on board civilian aircraft.

However, on the basis of information collected by the Dublin Airport Authority, I understand the number of troops that have passed through Shannon Airport in 2011 was under 250,000.