Shannon Airport: Difference between revisions

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Shannon Airport (IATA: SNN, ICAO: EINN) is Ireland's main transatlantic airport. 2.4 million passengers travelled through Shannon in 2004, making it the fourth busiest airport in Ireland. Shannon is situated in County Clare in the mid-west of Ireland, just 15km from Limerick City. The airport is operated by the Shannon Airport Authority. Shannon Airport mostly handles transatlantic flights and flights to Britain. Shannon and Dublin are the only two European airports with U.S. border preclearance facilities. Foreign military use of its facilities has been a cause of concern to Irish popular opinion.

History

In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by Flying Boats and the 'European Terminal' was at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary. However, it was realised that changing technology would require a runway and airport.

In 1936 the Irish Government confirmed that it would develop a 760 acre (3.1 km²) site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport. The area where the airport was to be built was extremely boggy so work wasn't easy. On October 8, 1936 work began on draining the land. By 1942 a serviceable airport had been established and that new airport was called Shannon Airport. By 1945 the existing runways at Shannon were extended to allow transatlantic flights to land. When World War II ended the airport was ready to be used by the many new post-war commercial airlines of Europe and North America. On September 16, 1945 the first transatlantic proving flight, a Pan Am DC-4, landed at Shannon from New York. On October 24, the first scheduled commercial flight passed through Shannon Airport. It was a Douglas DC-4 which belonged to American Overseas Airways. Trans World Airways (TWA), Pan American Airways (Pan Am) and BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) also began operations in 1945.

The number of international carriers rose sharply in succeeding years as Shannon became well known as the gateway between Europe and the Americas. Limitation of aircraft range necessitated the interruptions of journeys for refuelling. Shannon became the most convenient and obvious stopping point before and after the trip across the Atlantic. In 1947 the Customs Free Airport Act established Shannon as the world's first Duty Free Airport, where transit and embarking passengers were exempt from normal customs procedures. Shannon became a model for other Duty Free facilities throughout the world. In the same year, the airport was finally completed.

In 1947 Aer Lingus decided to begin its own transatlantic service. Five Lockheed Constellation aircraft were delivered with the inaugural flight due to take place on March 17, 1948. However financial difficulties and the election of a new government in Ireland meant the plan had to be dropped. Over the next ten years even more new airlines and aircraft still continued to operate out of Shannon. In 1958 Aer Lingus finally began services to the United States using Lockheed Constellations.

The 1960s proved to be a tough decade for Shannon Airport. Transit traffic fell sharply as there was no longer the need for planes crossing the Atlantic to re-fuel at Shannon because they could now reach their European destinations non-stop with longer-range jets. Alitalia, Sabena, Lufthansa and KLM all ended their services through Shannon. However, while some airlines were ending their Shannon services Aer Lingus expanded its transatlantic routes with Boeing 720s and later Boeing 707 aircraft.

In 1969 it was announced that Aer Rianta would be given responsibility for Shannon Airport as well as for Cork Airport. Passenger numbers at the airport reached 460,000 that same year so it was decided that a new enlarged terminal would have to be built. The invention of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet also meant that better facilities were needed. The first commercial operation of a Boeing 747 took place in April 1971 while the new terminal officially opened in May of that year.

In 1974 a major increase in fuel prices had a dramatic effect on transit traffic. Pan Am ended all its scheduled operations at Shannon. It did however continue charter services through the airport. Other airlines also pulled out of Shannon. The 1980s saw a number of new airlines arrive at Shannon. Aeroflot of Russia used the airport as a fuel stop while Delta Air Lines began new services to Atlanta and New York. In 1986 a US Immigration pre-clearance facility was opened at Shannon, thus cutting down on the time spent queueing on arrival in the United States. 1989 saw Pan Am return to Shannon operating scheduled services.

In 2004, a separate airport authority for Shannon, Shannon Airport Authority was set up in shadow form. Under the State Airports Act 2004, this company must prepare a business plan for Shannon Airport before taking over operation of the airport (from Dublin Airport Authority) not earlier than May 2005.

Passanger numbers grew by 32% in the first half of 2005, largely due to the addition of several new routes by Ryanair. [1]

The "Shannon Stopover"

The United States - Ireland bilateral or Air Services Agreement requires that air carriers operating between the United States and Ireland must provide capacity into Dublin Airport and Shannon. The rule came from the days when aircraft did not have a long range and were forced to stop at Shannon. The rule used to require a stop in both directions but was relaxed to require one direct Shannon flight for each direct Dublin flight. Accordingly some services are operated US-Dublin-Shannon-US. A similar bilateral rule exists between Ireland and Canada. There are exceptions for some charter services.

The first Air Services Agreement with the US in 1945 only permitted flights to Shannon and only permitted Irish airlines to serve Boston, Chicago and New York JFK. At the end of 1971 the US Civil Aeronautics Board announced that unless US planes were allowed operate into Dublin Airport they proposed to ban Aer Lingus from landing in New York. This provoked an instant reaction from the Shannon staff. Eventually an agreement was reached which allowed one US carrier to service Dublin Airport through Shannon. TWA was the designated airline.

In 1990 the U.S.-Ireland bilateral agreement was changed to allow Irish airlines serve Los Angeles and additional US airlines to serve Dublin via Shannon. The most recent amendment in 1993 allowed airlines to provide direct transatlantic services to Dublin.

The powerful Shannon lobby were outraged at the loss of the Stopover Status, however, in reality little has changed. The September 11th terrorist attacks in New York severely threatened the future of Shannon Airport. Aer Lingus and Delta Air Lines reduced their services while other airlines pulled out completely. However, since then a number of new airlines have started new services such as US Airways and Air Canada.

A dispute with the European Commission is holding up any further renegotiation of the bilaterals, since in their consultation document on the "third package" for liberalisation of air transport the Commission proposes (at point 33) the removal of existing prohibitions on non-Irish EU airlines from operating transatlantic services in accordance with judgements of the European Court of Justice. It is also believed the Commission requires the "Shannon stopover" to be fully removed rather than further relaxed, because of the Commission's desire (at point 34) to take over negotiations with non-EU countries as it does in other areas of trade, which would remove the stopover as a matter for the Irish Government to control directly.

Politicians, unions and business groups in the Shannon area believe the EU Commission would use its mandate to sacrifice the Shannon stop, fearing most existing services would relocate to Dublin if not required to serve Shannon. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce called for the end of the stopoverin 2003. Aer Lingus, Ireland's sole scheduled transatlantic carrier as of 2005, is in favour of air service liberalisation, believing that the ability to serve more US markets would be more advantageous to its future than the current regime.

On November 11, 2005 an agreement was reached between Norman Mineta, the United States Secretary of Transportation and Martin Cullen, the Irish Minister of Transport regarding a transitional deal beginning November 2006 and ending April 2008 which eliminates restriction on cargo services and for passenger services reduces the stopover requirement and increases the number of US ports Irish airlines can serve by three. At the end of this period, no restrictions will be placed on scheduled services between any airport in one country to any airport in the other.

Foreign military aircraft at Shannon

Shannon Airport also has a history of foreign military use. A large part of its business is military stopovers, currently almost all American; however the airport was also frequently used by the Soviet military until the 1990's. There were some official restrictions, such as no weaponry being allowed and uniformed foreign soldiers remaining out of public areas. However they were rarely enforced, and uniformed U.S. soldiers are seen daily in the public areas of the airport. Shannon saw military transports throughout the Cold War and during both Gulf Wars. Recently the airport has been the subject of protests, direct actions and High Court actions over such usage.

In April 2003 the High Court ruled in Horgan v Ireland that for Ireland to be a Neutral Power under international law, it must prevent "belligerents from making use of neutral territories and neutral resources for their military purposes". The Irish Government however expressly invited the United States to use Ireland's airports and airspace for its "long campaign against terrorism", waiving all previous restrictions regarding foreign military aircraft. The provisions of Bunreacht na hÉireann (Constitution of Ireland) which affirm Ireland's commitment to the rule of international law were stated by the government as being only "aspirational".

A further High Court judicial review (Dubsky vs Ireland) relating to Shannon Airport and the U.S.-led attack against Afghanistan was heard in February 2005. After much delay, Mrs. Justice Fidelma Macken (since appointed to the Supreme Court) re-scheduled judgement for December 13 2005. She turned down the legal challenge. Though her written judgement is still not available, the judge did say this in court: "I have found that on the current materials before the court that the applicant has not satisfied me that the events occurring in Afghanistan constitute a war for purposes of Article 28.3.1." The case is listed for mention again on January 16, 2006. After that date Mr. Dubsky will have 21 days to make an appeal.

A group of Catholic Worker activists were tried in March 2005 for damaging a United States Navy C-40 Clipper aircraft at the airport in February 2003 but the trial was stopped by Judge Frank MacDonnell on the sixth day for reasons the media were ordered not to disclose. A second trial beginning in October 2005 was ended without a verdict on the tenth day due to allegations of links between the trial judge, Donagh MacDonagh, and President of the United States George W. Bush.

Financial figures released in April 2005 show that the airport lost €2.5m, whilst the transport of US troops made an income of €18m for the airport. In May 2005 the Minister for Transport revealed that the state pays the €10m annual cost to air-traffic control due to US military aircraft in Irish airspace [2], under the Eurocontrol agreement. During 2005, over 330,000 US troops stopped over at Shannon en route to or from Afghanistan or Iraq, leading to concern [3] in Ireland about this apparent breach of its policy of neutrality.

Rendition

On 6 December 2005, the BBC programme Newsnight alleged that Shannon was used on at least 33 occasions by United States Central Intelligence Agency flights, thought to be part of a US policy called extraordinary rendition, referring to the non-judicial transfers of prisoners to other jurisdictions, including those where interrogation routinely uses torture. The New York Times reported the number to be 33, though referring to "Ireland" rather than Shannon, while Amnesty International has alleged the number of flights to be 50, a figure they published in response to Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who had pledged to investigate rendition if presented with evidence.

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied [4] that the US transfers prisoners knowing that they will be tortured. Her statement (transcript) included the following:

The United States does not transport, and has not transported, detainees from one country to another for the purpose of interrogation using torture. The United States does not use the airspace or the airports of any country for the purpose of transporting a detainee to a country where he or she will be tortured. The United States has not transported anyone, and will not transport anyone, to a country when we believe he will be tortured. Where appropriate, the United States seeks assurances that transferred persons will not be tortured.

However, Rice refuses to give confirm or deny reports of secret detention facilities. A week earlier, Ms Rice assured Foreign Minister Ahern that the airport had not been used for "untoward" purposes, or as a transit point for terror suspects.

Allegations of State Aid

The Irish Sunday Independent newspaper reported in October 2005 that Shannon Airport is the subject of an investigation by the European Commission into incentives given to Ryanair to operate a base at the airport. Incentives provided by State owned airports such as Shannon are mandated by EU legislation to be reported to the Commission by the Irish Department of Transport. A similar case is ongoing in the European Courts regarding a deal between Ryanair and Charleroi Brussels South Airport in Belgium.

Ground Transportation

Shannon Airport is the end destination of the N19 national route, which connects to the N18 Limerick–Galway route. A new dual-carriageway section of the N19 was finished in 2004, bypassing Shannon Town, and a new interchange and dual-carriageway north to Ennis were completed on the N18.

Regular bus services connect the airport to Limerick, Ennis and Galway. Like all airports in Ireland, Shannon currently has no rail connection. However there are early discussions of a private €60m project to connect the airport to the Limerick-Ennis line, a distance of 10km. [5]

Airlines using Shannon

SNN is one of the hubs of Irish international and domestic airline Aer Lingus, which is also one of five companies providing aircraft maintenance at the airport. Shannon is also one of the hubs of Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair. The airport can handle landings by aeroplanes of all sizes.

Passenger Airlines

(as of February 2006)

Europe

• Aer Lingus to Dublin, London (Heathrow)
• Belavia to Minsk
• Centralwings to Warsaw
• easyJet to London (Gatwick)
• Flybe to Birmingham and Glasgow (International)
• Ryanair to Bristol, Brussels (Charleroi), Manchester, Murcia, Nottingham (East Midlands), Frankfurt (Hahn), Girona, Glasgow (Prestwick), Hamburg (Lübeck), Liverpool, London (Gatwick, Luton, Stansted), Málaga, Milan (Bergamo), Nantes, Paris (Beauvais), Rome (Ciampino), Weeze and Wrocław.
• Thomsonfly to Coventry

North America

• Aer Lingus to Boston (Logan), Chicago (O'Hare), and New York (JFK)
• Air Canada to Toronto (summer only)
• Air Transat to Toronto (summer only)
• American Airlines to Boston (Logan)
• Continental Airlines to New York (Newark)
• Delta Air Lines to Atlanta and New York JFK
• Royal Jordanian (Refuels at Shannon for North American routes)
• US Airways (Philadelphia [seasonal])

Cargo Airlines

• Cargolux
• DHL
• Panalpina
• TNT
• UPS

Airlines which previously used Shannon

• Aeroflot
• Air France
• Alitalia
• BOAC
• EUjet (Parent company, Planestation, folded in July 2005)
• Hapag Lloyd Express for six months in 2005.
• Lufthansa
• Northwest Airlines
• Pan Am (Folded in 1991)
• Skynet (Folded in 2004)
• TWA (Bought by American Airlines in 2001)

External links

• Shannon International Airport