30-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Nearly 2,000 US military flights stopped at Irish airports in last three years
Figures obtained and reported by RTÉ News show 978 US military flights landed in Ireland between 2022 and 2024, with the majority landing at Shannon Airport.
Over the same period, more than 1,000 applications were made for US civil aircraft with munitions of war on board to land in Shannon.
In total, 1,700 applications were made for civil aircraft with weapons on board to fly over Irish airspace.
The figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs show that 0.1pc of the applications made for civil aircraft carrying weapons to land or fly over Ireland were refused in the last three years.
Out of 543 applications to fly over Ireland with munitions of war in 2024, two were refused.
During the period, no US military aircraft were prevented from landing at Irish airports.
According to the Department of Transport, the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft in Irish airspace is prohibited 'unless an exemption for such carriage is granted by the Minister for Transport'.
"Applications for an exemption must detail specifically what is being carried, why and for whom, providing as much detail as possible.'
Department of Transport figures for January and February of this year show a total of 236 applications for these exemptions were received, with 232 granted, none refused and four cancelled.
Nearly three million US soldiers have passed through Shannon Airport since 2002, according to Shannonwatch, a campaign group that monitors US military activity at the airport.
"Shannon Airport is being used as a logistic hub for the US military. This is particularly important at the moment and particularly inappropriate with the genocide that is happening in Gaza,' Shannonwatch contributor Edward Horgan told RTÉ.
