Shannon Airport CEO optimistic for summer season despite geopolitical tensions

Irish Examiner

a day ago

After a landmark year in 2024, Shannon Airport is building on its momentum with new routes, increased investment, and a growing passenger base taking it from strength to strength.
Welcoming 2.1m passengers last year, its highest number since 2009, the Shannon Airport Group posted an 8% rise in annual turnover in 2024 — rising to more than €73m, with its pre-tax profit for the year totalling almost €26m.
Its success has caught the attention of several major airlines, with the airport now offering its largest transatlantic schedule with five daily nonstop flights to the US, landing in New York, Newark, Boston and Chicago.
Its latest vote of confidence came earlier this week from budget airline Ryanair, which announced three new routes alongside a $100m investment in the airport as it continues to expand its presence across regional hubs.
The investment includes the addition of a new aircraft to be stationed at Shannon, bringing its total number to four for its 2025 winter schedule. It now hosts one more Ryanair aircraft than Cork, despite the second largest airport having 1m more passengers last year.
'We see a huge potential for growth and believe there is a real opportunity for us,' said Mary Considine, the chief executive officer of the Shannon Airport Group.
Shannon Airport CEO Mary Considine says Ireland's aviation policy should be changed because Dublin has an 85-86% market share. Picture: Arthur Ellis
Appointed in October 2019, Ms Considine told the Irish Examiner: 'The more aircraft we have here, the more frequency and services Ryanair can offer.
'In addition to increased frequencies for our six most popular routes, they have also been able to announce three new routes for the winter: Madrid, Madeira and Lapland.'
Yet despite its enhanced connectivity across Europe, Shannon's transatlantic flights remain some of its busiest and are a vital component of its overall operations. However, as political tensions rise across the US, the number of people travelling across the Atlantic from Ireland has fallen drastically.
Recent figures from the US International Trade Administration (ITA) found that passenger travel from Ireland fell by 27% in March when compared to the same month in 2024, with Ireland representing one of the highest decreases across all European countries.
When geopolitical events are happening with heightened uncertainty, sometimes people hesitate in making decisions
Yet, despite this downward demand pressure on US travel, Ms Considine remains optimistic.
'Talking with our airline partners, they're very confident about the summer season. There are very strong forward bookings, which go back to the strong market for the US from here," she said.
'We have very strong foreign direct investment in the catchment area of Shannon Airport. Almost 50% of the [foreign direct investment] in the country comes from within our immediate catchment area.
"We're also the international gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way, and we are seeing strong tourism growth.'
Noting recent figures from the Central Statistics Office, which found tourism numbers had fallen by 4% in April, Ms Considine says that has not been reflected in the airport's performance.
'We've seen good growth here. We saw 7% growth last year, and we expect to be up by between 7-8% again this year.
Preclearance facility
The CEO also notes Shannon's US preclearance facility — one of only two across Europe, the other being in Dublin — which she says brings greater comfort to Irish people, especially young adults and those travelling on J1 visas, and even provides an opportunity for the airport to grow.
'Take Charles De Gaulle [Airport], for example,' Ms Considine said.
'They bring quite an amount of transfer passengers here, because people prefer to pre-clear here then be refused once they get to the US.
We see that kind of demand growing at Shannon, which provides an opportunity for us here
But Shannon Airport's long-standing history with the US is reflected across its operations and not just in its commercial flight offerings.
Recent months have seen a renewed focus on the regional airport over reports that Israeli aircraft have flown weaponry from the US to Ireland through Irish airspace.
Last week, RTÉ reported that between 2022 and 2024, a total of 978 US military flights landed at Irish airports, mostly in Shannon, for refuelling and maintenance purposes.
During the same period, more than 1,000 applications were made by US civil aircraft with munitions of war on board to land at Shannon.
Reports of these flights have drawn large crowds to the airport in protest of its accommodation of US military aircraft, particularly those bound for Israel.
Addressing these demonstrations, Ms Considine said that while the airport accepts and recognises the right to protest in a peaceful manner, Shannon Airport operates solely based on government policy.
At the end of the day, we work under the direction of the Irish Government. We are State-owned and our focus is on providing a safe, secure and operational airport
"Anything that interferes with the safety and security of the airport is obviously something to be concerned about," she said.
'Concerning recent incidents, we're working very closely with gardaí to ensure there is no impact on the operation of our aerodrome facility.
Addressing the reports of military aircraft coming through the airport, Ms Considine added: 'It's government policy. Everything is done in line with existing policy, and everything that requires clearance from the Government receives that clearance.
'It is government policy, and we implement government policy.'
Shannon has five daily transatlantic flights, its pre-clearance facility reassuring passengers of guaranteed entry to the US. Picture: Denis Scannell
Looking forward, Ms Considine says recent investments from Ryanair and US airline partners fall concisely in line with its own future strategy, which prioritises passenger growth, infrastructure improvements, and the airport group's commercial property portfolio, which the CEO says has experienced strong growth in recent months, particularly across the manufacturing sector.
In addition, Shannon is also seeking to re-balance what Ms Considine has called a lopsided market share among Ireland's airports.
'If you look at Dublin, it has an 85-86% market share. We need to look at where people want to go and then meet those needs. That is why growing the range of services from Shannon Airport is so important, so we can offer that choice and then grow our market share.
'This is why we have been calling on the Government to revise its aviation policy. One avenue open to them is to amend the threshold under the regional airports programme so that airports up to 3m passengers can apply for grant funding.
'I also think it would be good for the country if we had better distribution of air traffic to free up capacity in Dublin, allowing them to go after those long-haul markets, while allowing us all to be complimentary of one another.
'It's not about not allowing Dublin to grow, it's about growing all airports and using the airport system more holistically.'
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