'People are driving past three airports to take flights from Dublin. It must be addressed'

Shannon Airport Security Manager John Francis  operating the airport's new security screening system. Picture: Arthur Ellis.

The new chair of Shannon Group Conal Henry said Ireland has a very imbalanced aviation sector and this is something that must be addressed.

Speaking at a recent meeting of Clare County Council Mr Henry said the Shannon Group "is in rude health” on the back of increasing passenger numbers through the airport. "It is a very, very well run business, is financially resilient and has very strong potential."

However, Mr Henry said: "The challenge for the airport is the challenge for aviation in Ireland. We have a very imbalanced aviation sector.

"We have 87% of traffic going through one airport and 13% going through five airports and four of those five airports are competing for that 13% — effectively undermining their ability to compete with the Dublin offering."

Dublin Airport which handles 87% of the country's air traffic saw massive security queues last month as it struggled to recruit the required security screening staff. Picture: Dominic McGrath

He said: "So you have this weird situation of people driving past three airports to take flights from Dublin. This is not suitable for any State and something that must be addressed.

"It is a policy challenge and there is a real need to re-address national aviation policy to look at how we better have a competitive aviation proposition in the State."

'Road to recovery'

The meeting heard that Shannon Airport is performing ahead of expectations and is on course to deliver between 75pc to 80pc of pre-pandemic passenger numbers this year.

CEO of the Shannon Group, Mary Considine said "we are confident that we are on the right road to recovery" due to the pent-up demand that is there is for air travel.

 In 2019, the airport recorded passenger numbers of 1.7m and Ms Considine said that the airport is hoping for 75-80% this year of pre-pandemic traffic.

She said: “We are doing much better than we would have anticipated at the start of the year."

An 80% projection of pre-pandemic passenger figures would deliver passenger numbers of 1.368 million for 2022.

She said: “We have definitely felt the bounce” at Shannon.

Heathrow slots

Ms Considine also urged maximising the use of Shannon’s three Heathrow slots as the guarantee concerning the slots expires in September. Mr Considine said that if the routes are properly supported there will never be a question mark over their viability.

Mr Henry strongly resisted a call from the floor that the Shannon Group chair adopt an executive role in running the airport. 

He said: "The last thing Shannon airport needs is more management — it just needs a clear plan supported by all the stakeholders.” 

Mr Henry said that has great confidence in the management team at Shannon and stated there is a mistaken belief that if you throw more managers at a problem it will get solved.

He said: "That is not how it works, it will just create more noise."

Earlier, Ms Considine said that Ryanair now flies to more destinations out of Shannon than it did before the pandemic.

Ms Considine also pointed out that for the first time since 2010, Shannon has a daily transatlantic link to Boston and New York all year round.

Ms Considine said that through economies of scale flights out of Dublin can be cheaper than Shannon for passengers but urged passengers to examine the total costs of travelling out of Dublin.