Plane not checked in Shannon for Ukraine war-bound weapons

A Ukrainian Antonov 124 transport aircraft landed in Shannon on May 7, having flown from Australia via Japan, Alaska, and Canada.

The Department of Transport has admitted it did not check whether a Ukrainian plane which landed in Shannon was carrying heavy artillery in spite of pictures of weapons being loaded in Australia.

The Ukrainian Antonov 124 transport aircraft landed in Shannon on May 7 having flown from Australia via Japan, Alaska, and Canada. It stayed overnight at the airport before departing for Rzeszow Airport in southeast Poland. 

The carriage of any weaponry requires an exemption under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons, and Dangerous Goods) Orders. 

Such exemptions are relatively common, with 229 given for flights which landed or took off at Shannon in 2021. 

The legislation prohibits the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft, including on troop-carrying civil aviation operators, through Irish airspace or Irish airports, unless an exemption has been granted by the Minister for Transport.

Parliamentary questions

Junior Transport Minister Hildegarde Naughton was asked about the flight in two parliamentary questions from Sinn Féin’s Brian Stanley and Independent TD Catherine Connolly.

In response, Ms Naughton said Antonov asked if an exemption is needed to transport armoured cars under the law but was told it is not.

The air operator had communicated, prior to the flight, with my department, querying if an exemption would be needed as the cargo carried consisted of basic frame armoured vehicles without weapons. 

"It was determined that for such cargo, no exemption would be required, however a single authorisation for a technical stop was issued for this flight," she said.

Campaigners from the Shannonwatch group have questioned whether the plane contained one of six M777 Howitzer guns which were donated by the Australian government to the Ukrainian war effort.

Pictures posted by the Australian Defence Ministry show a howitzer being loaded onto an Antonov cargo plane which visually matches the one which landed in Shannon a day later.

Pictures posted by the Australian Defence Ministry show a howitzer being loaded onto an Antonov An-124 cargo plane which visually matches the one which landed in Shannon a day later.

The Australian pictures show that at least one Bushmaster- protected mobility vehicle was loaded onto the An-124. However, a later press release says that the vehicles “were repainted and had their armour upgraded before they were sent to Ukraine by Royal Australian Air Force C-17A aircraft”.

When the Irish Examiner sought clarification from the Department of Transport on whether this meant that no weapons were, in fact, on board, a spokesperson said: “The airline made a declaration that no munitions of war were to be carried. No investigation was undertaken."

When asked to comment on the Australian photos, the spokesperson repeated this statement.

A Department of Transport spokesperson said: 'The airline made a declaration that no munitions of war were to be carried. No investigation was undertaken.'

A PR company representing Ukraine-based Antonov Airlines directed the Irish Examiner to a press release about the company’s ongoing work using the large cargo planes.

Edward Horgan of Shannonwatch said that an investigation should have been carried out on the plane, regardless of what was declared.