Shannon’s SOS

Now, Shannon area and mid west county politicians are hoping for a lifeline from Aer Lingus.
In its absence, they say, Shannon could be facing its death knell as a transatlantic departure and arrival point.
The mayors and council leaders have also warned that expected Aer Lingus cuts to its Shannon operations would also be disastrous for the region’s tourist industry.
Meeting in Ennis, the mayors of Clare and Limerick City, the chairs of North Tipperary County Council, Limerick County Council and the Mid West Regional Authority, outlined opposition to plans by the airline to reduce transatlantic services and remove the company’s U.S. base at Shannon Airport, this with the loss of 102 cabin crew jobs.
Leo Walsh, a Limerick county councilor and chairman of the Mid West Regional Authority, said thousands of jobs, the economic viability of the mid west region and the sustainability of entire communities depended on the retention of existing transatlantic services and jobs at Shannon Airport.
“The transatlantic services currently operated by Aer Lingus at Shannon are critically and strategically important to maintain existing development in the mid west’s industry and tourism sectors and to position the wider region for further growth and investment into the future,” said Walsh.
The airline’s proposed ending of the direct Shannon to New York route early in 2010 would, he said, have “disastrous, far-reaching consequences” for the local economy.
Stressing the importance of the transatlantic hub at Shannon for the entire west of Ireland, Walsh said that significant progress had been made by the region’s authorities in improving infrastructure and services.
“The provision of a highly skilled workforce through the presence of the numerous third level institutions in the region has also added value to the strong multinational sector. Underpinning all such development and future growth is proper access to the U.S. market,” Walsh said.
The participants in the Ennis meeting accused Aer Lingus of giving preferential treatment to Dublin Airport in relation to the operation of its transatlantic services.
“It is clear that there is an ulterior motive behind Aer Lingus’ decision not to utilize the new United States customs and immigration pre-clearance facility in Shannon Airport for its transatlantic services until the middle of 2010.
“The bottom line is that we feel that the company’s proposal to end the direct Shannon-New York route early in 2010 is geared towards its apparent end strategy of providing all of its transatlantic services out of Dublin. As a region that helped establish and nurture the airline, we are entitled to be informed of any plans that the airline may have,” Walsh said.