Military use keeping Shannon flying high

The US military use of Shannon is keeping the airport profitable, it was claimed today.

Shannon was left out of Aer Lingus' latest new route announcement today and management at the airport have been told to address the business challenges facing them.

Vincent Wall of the Dublin Airport Authority said the airport was loss-making at an underlying level, but stayed profitable because 153,000 troops passed through this year, at a cost of €18m to the US government.

"That's not a sustainable business," said Mr Wall. "Its costs are too high compared to Cork and to Dublin and in the competitive world it has got to get those costs down."