Shannon lands another Irish airport first

SHANNON has seen yet another first for an Irish airport with the arrival last night of Boeing’s latest airliner, the 787 Dreamliner, which made a brief stop at the mid-west aerodrome while returning to the US from Britain.

The jet, principally constructed from carbon-fibre and billed as the most fuel-efficient jetliner ever built, is on its first trip outside the US and has yet to enter commercial service. Shannon was the first commercial airport outside the US where the 787 has landed.

Aircraft number 3 in Boeing’s 787 programme stopped in Shannon to refuel on its way back to the Seattle in Washington after visiting the Farnborough International Airshow in England.