DUBLIN Airport is in advanced talks with Air India in a bid to become the airline’s European hub, which could see more transatlantic flights from Ireland.

EFFORTS by Shannon Airport to secure a replacement airline to take over the successful Shannon to Paris route, which will be axed by Ryanair in November, have been dealt a severe blow with two more operators confirming they have no plans to take up the service.

RYANAIR has announced that it has taken on Edelman as its external public relations/media communications adviser, after what it called “a very competitive tender process”.

SIPTU has told Aer Lingus it will have to bear any costs to the union’s members if the company’s 2008 “leave and return” scheme is found to be flawed.

SHANNON Airport Authority chairman Brian O’Connell is set to make his first comprehensive public statement on the future of the airport today.

RYANAIR has accused the Government of failing to act to save the airline’s Kerry-Dublin service because it favours the semi-state companies to private sector organisations.

Dublin: Ryanair has welcomed calls from the ESRI for the “introduction of terminal competition at Dublin Airport”, where the two terminals are sold off to different competing owners, in a move that would mirror the British ruling that the BAA monopoly of London’s airports should be broken up to promote competition and a better deal for passengers.

PASSENGER charges will increase next month at Dublin Airport as the country’s three biggest airports take a hit of €8 million from the volcanic ash crisis as 3,200 flights were cancelled.

THE IDA has been accused of “de-emphasising” the importance of Cork and Dublin as locations for foreign direct investment.

LABOUR leader Eamon Gilmore insisted yesterday the huge decline in passenger numbers at Shannon will not be tackled by just transferring management of the airport from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA).

TROUBLED Shannon Airport was delivered another hammer blow yesterday with Ryanair dropping more flights, reducing its destinations by 21% to six from a high of 35 two years ago.

AER Lingus says trading picked up in the third quarter and that it is likely to generate a full-year operating profit towards the top end of expectations.

AT least one airline has emerged as a potential replacement carrier to take over the Shannon to Paris route which Ryanair will abandon next month despite its success.

SHANNON Airport would lose out on the €5 million-€10m it receives annually from the Dublin Airport Authority, to cover likely losses, if complete autonomy was secured.

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

RYANAIR hopes the Government’s financial woes will help the low-cost carrier finally seal a takeover of Aer Lingus, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has told a German newspaper.

THE future of Shannon Airport as a Ryanair base is in serious doubt with analysts predicting it could follow the same fate as Belfast City airport.

THE Government’s take from the controversial air travel tax has fallen 20% on last summer’s figures.

RYANAIR has slammed new travel charge increases at Shannon which the airline claims will further erode its passenger figures.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan quietly shelved a review of the pay of semi-state bosses despite the fact that some of them enjoy packages worth €500,000 a year.