Cork Airport is hopeful of breaking even by the end of 2014, despite showing no real improvement in losses last year.

Operations will start this week on the first route secured by Shannon Airport since it received its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Clare County Council will launch a standalone town plan for Shannon today which includes the zoning of a 2,000-acre landbank for aviation-related business and activities.

BROADCASTER Terry Wogan can be heard on a radio advertisement these days extolling the virtues of using Shannon Airport as a departure and arrivals point for travellers out of and into the West of Ireland.

Mid-West business bodies have welcomed a decision to give Shannon Airport full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has called on the Government to dispose of all state-ownership of airports in Ireland following its decision to grant independence to Shannon Airport.

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.

Shannon Airport will take control of its own future from Dec 31 as part of major reform of the aviation sector which will see the struggling airport separated from the Dublin Airport Authority.

As Transport Minister Leo Varadkar finalises the government strategy for the future of Shannon Airport, Clare County Council said yesterday it will unveil its planning roadmap for the airport and Shannon Town on Dec 10.

Industrial action is again on the cards at Dublin Airport Authority after staff said they were rejecting company proposals on the ailing pension scheme.

The construction of new hangar facilities at Shannon could begin as early as 2013 as part of determined efforts to attract aviation business to the soon-to-be independent airport.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has played down suggestions that projected numbers for Shannon Airport are “fanciful”.

Siptu is balloting members at Shannon Airport for industrial action following the Government’s decision to separate it from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

The future for staff at an independent Shannon Airport is far more secure than under the Dublin Airport Authority, the chairman of the Mid West Task Force has said.

In the middle of July, Sinéad O’Connor’s male nanny took her six and nine-year-old sons, Yeshua Bonadio and Shane O’Connor, from Dublin to Lyon.

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

A development group is hoping to get €4m funding to do up three unique gardens at a stately home in North Cork.

Seán Kelly, the Cork South MEP, has warned that ending round-the-clock landing services at Cork Airport will threaten the terminal’s international status and lead to a decline in passengers.

Ryanair is to hold an extraordinary general meeting to get shareholder approval for the purchase of 175 new planes that the airline has ordered to ensure it can continue to grow.

The operations of Irish Water, which will collect charges from households around the country by 2015, will be covered in a veil of secrecy, according to Fianna Fáil.