Shannon Airport to spend €2m on  three new airbridges

The new airbridge is capable of accommodating over 22 types of large aircraft, excluding some smaller regional jets

The new airbridges are part of a greater investment plan at Shannon Airport, Co Clare. Picture: Eamon Ward

Shannon Group announced it is installing three new airbridges at Shannon Airport through Government funding.

Almost €2m will be spent on building the three 60-tonne airbridges, as part of a range of airport enhancement projects by Shannon Group totalling almost €10m.

The installation of the three bridges is part of a greater investment plan which will see the airport’s six airbridges replaced over the next three years.

Shannon Group is focussed on future-proofing the airport infrastructure, and this latest airbridge programme forms part of our investment strategy across the Shannon Airport campus,” said  Shannon Group CEO Mary Considine.

The first of the three airbridges has just been installed at the airport in a process that took over two days. The airbridge is capable of accommodating over 22 types of large aircraft, excluding some smaller regional jets.

The newly installed airbridge, manufactured by CIMC-Tianda Airport Support in China, arrived at Shannon Airport after a long journey halfway across the globe from Shenzhen. A further two airbridges will be replaced later this year and in early 2023, with plans to replace the remaining three airbridges during phase two of the project at a later stage.

Airbridges are used to board passengers directly from the airport terminal building onto aircraft without passengers and crew having to go outside.

Over the past 12 months, Shannon Group has been busy upgrading the airport experience, and enhancing infrastructure.

Projects completed with support from the Department of Transport under the Regional Airports Programme, include a €2.5m state-of-the-art security screening system which is halving the dwell time for passengers through security and eliminating the need to remove liquids and electronics, and €5.3m on airfield rehabilitation works.

Shannon Airport is one of three businesses that the Shannon Group oversees. The others are Shannon Commercial Properties and Shannon Heritage.

The group was officially established in 2014.