A committee representing Siptu members at Dublin Airport Authority has rejected "expert panel" proposals on how to address the €780m hole in the pension scheme of the DAA, Aer Lingus and the Shannon Airport Authority.

Passenger numbers at Shannon rose by 15% in the first half of the year with European business showing a 54% increase.

Shannon Airport recorded a pre-tax profit of €149,000 in its first year as an independent airport, figures show.

The Government has signed off on a bill to set up a new company to deliver jobs and Airline routes to Shannon airport.

The Dublin Airport Authority will today seek to legally prevent Friday’s four-hour closure of the country’s main airports — and the likely disruption to tens of thousands of passengers — through strike action by members of Siptu.

A four hour-stoppage by workers at Aer Lingus and the country’s three main airports on March 14 could ground hundreds of thousands of passengers both here and across the globe.

Unions at Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport Authority, and Shannon Airport Authority will spend the next fortnight discussing a campaign of co-ordinated industrial action over their members’ pensions.

Siptu members working in Aer Lingus and Shannon Airport Authority have joined their colleagues in the Dublin Airport Authority in backing strike action over the almost €800m hole in a pension scheme.

SIPTU members at the Shannon Airport Authority have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a dispute over their troubled pension scheme.

Clare County Council has revised upwards its flood repair bill by 55% to €36.8m as a result of further damage brought about by the recent storms.

The Six Nations rugby tournament and people returning to Ireland for St Patrick’s Day are likely to be targeted in strikes at Aer Lingus.

A ballot for strike action by Siptu members in Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport Authority, and Shannon Airport Authority will not impact on flights during the Christmas period, the union has pledged.

Pre-tax profits at the country’s largest nursing home group, where two indebted Nama developers transferred ownership of the firm to their wives, increased by 58% in 2011 to €2.5m.

Falling passenger numbers at Shannon have been halted and the airport is set to show a growth in 2013 for the first time in five years, the airports new chief, Neil Pakey, said yesterday.

The manufacture of aircraft in Ireland for the first time moved a step closer yesterday.

The Government has formally approved the creation of the new state company that will oversee the workings of Shannon Airport.

A US-based aircraft maintenance company has confirmed plans to locate its new strategic corporate headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Shannon Airport.

Shannon Airport has secured its first new service since it was cut free from the Dublin Airport Authority a month ago.

An anti-war group has warned of further protests at Shannon Airport after the chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority said the facility will specifically target US troop business.

The chairwoman of the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) has revealed that Shannon is working with the Department of Transport on giving freedom rights to airlines from other countries to stop at Shannon before travelling on to the US.

On behalf of the justice and peace organisation, Afri, I am revulsed at comments by the head of the Shannon Airport Authority, Rose Hynes, to an Oireachtas committee, as reported in the Irish Examiner.

Shannon Airport plans to target passengers travelling from the mid-west to Dublin for flights as part of its plan to increase passengers numbers.

Shannon Airport yesterday celebrated the beginning of a new era as it officially became an independent entity.

Over 850 jobs are due to be created as a result of the decision to grant Shannon Airport full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, formally announced by the Government yesterday.

The Government has said today that the separation of Shannon Airport from Dublin Airport Authority will create 850 jobs.

Ireland should be targeting affluent Chinese holidaymakers, a move which could have significant potential for the tourism industry here.

Shannon Development wants an ownership and operational role in the new Shannon Airport structure.

Shannon Airport is doomed if it remains in public ownership and is not sold immediately to the highest bidder, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary predicts.

TRANSPORT Minister Leo Varadkar was last night accused of making the boards of Cork and Shannon airports redundant.

THE decline in passenger traffic at Shannon Airport has bottomed out and passenger traffic in 2012 is expected to be in line with 2011.

CLARE County Council members are seeking a meeting with Transport Minister Leo Varadkar and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) on the future of Shannon airport.

THERE is no point separating the three state airports “only to see one or two of them going bust in a short period” according to Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.

PROPOSALS put forward by the Shannon Airport Authority to put the airport on a long-term lease to a private company came under fire yesterday.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has reached agreement with the Lynxs Cargo Group, which proposes building a new cargo facility at Shannon airport.

RYANAIR chief executive Michael O’Leary has claimed that Shannon Airport “has priced itself out of existence”.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has insisted that all options must be considered for the future of Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

THE chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority has refused to discuss the recent controversy surrounding a proposed bonus payment to the chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority, Declan Collier.

Shannon Airport Authority has called for an aggressive US marketing campaign to capitalise on the first signs of recovery in the transatlantic market.

THERE is no silver bullet to increase passenger traffic at Shannon Airport and it will be a hard slog.

FOLLOWING Michael O’Leary’s latest broadside at Shannon and its dealings with his airline, a member of the airport authority yesterday invited the Ryanair boss to sit down and talk business.

AER Arann intends to employ 50 additional staff this year and double in size by 2015, the airline’s chief executive said yesterday.

FOLLOWING a massive drop in medical emergencies at Shannon Airport in 2009, there was a considerable jump last year in the number of incidents where aircraft diverted to the mid west airport with ill passengers.

THE chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority Brian O’Connell confirmed Shannon is abandoning its low-cost model, stating that it is unsustainable.

SHANNON Airport could become a hub for cargo between the US and Europe, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey believes.