Scotland is no longer on the radar at Shannon

I LIVE in Limerick and work as a sales manager for a company based in Scotland.

I am responsible for sales in Britain and Ireland and as part of my work I have to travel regularly to Britain.

Up until recently I used the facilities at Shannon airport whenever I could.

Recently I spent 45 minutes arranging my travel plans for the next couple of weeks and there are no suitable options for me to travel to Scotland and the English midlands either directly or indirectly from Shannon.

Following the decision earlier this year by Ryanair to reduce the number of aircraft based at Shannon from six to one there is now no regular service to any other part of Britain besides London from Shannon.

A few years ago Aer Lingus withdrew their evening flight from Dublin to Shannon, making it very difficult to travel via Dublin; they only provide a limited service in the mornings and this does not arrive at Dublin in time to meet the early morning connections to Britain.

I now have to pass the door of Shannon airport to travel to Scotland from Galway airport.

The facilities at Shannon airport were upgraded recently and the departure lounge, along with the security area, has been refurbished and the departure gates have also been upgraded.

This refurbishment represents a sizeable investment which no doubt will warrant a return.

I guess there is a strategic plan to achieve this. I imagine this includes an increase in flights and not a reduction in the long term.

I would like to know if this strategic plan includes the provision of regular flights to other parts of Britain besides London or at the very least the option of using the airport to make connections at Dublin airport to and from Britain.

I would also like to know if there are any plans to replace Ryanair which, along with Aer Lingus and the authorities at Shannon airport, doesn’t seem to understand the basic needs of their customers in the mid-west region.

In fact all three companies could do with a lesson in the basic principle of meeting their customer’s expectations. Exceeding them would be for another day.

Nick O’Mara

Rivers

Annacotty

Co Limerick