AER Lingus does not intend using the new United States custom and immigration pre-clearance facility in Shannon Airport for its transatlantic services until the middle of 2010 at the earliest.
The Shannon pre-clearance facility, which opened in early August, carries out customs, immigration and agricultural checks by US officials at the airport.
In a recent comment on the subject the Mayor of Shannon, Sean McLoughlin, said, “This stance makes no sense and only makes travel more difficult for Aer Lingus customers”.
The Limerick Post has learned that in a letter to the Minister of State Tony Killeen, the Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington outlines the airline’s decision to avoid using the Shannon service until the Dublin facility is also in operation. The Co Clare Deputy said he wrote to Aer Lingus seeking clarification on its use of the pre-clearance facility after the three US carriers Delta, Continental and US Airways signed up to use it.
According to Minister of State Killeen “Mr. Barrington informed me that to use the Shannon facilities in advance of next year would make Aer Lingus’s transatlantic operations at Shannon even less economical than they are today.”
Mr. Barrington stated: “As regards Shannon, we have made it clear that we will not be in a position to use this facility until such time as the Dublin facility is also in operation. At the two relevant US airports, JFK in New York and Logan in Boston, Aer Lingus operates into international terminals. If we used the Shannon CBP facility then we would have to operate Shannon originating flights into domestic terminals. This would put an extra strain on our operations and would incur extra costs, which particularly in the case of Shannon originating flights, would make these even less economical than they are today.”
The Aer Lingus chairman also stated: “The other airlines that you refer to in your letter are US carriers and so already have both international and domestic facilities at the US airports that they operate into from Ireland (Newark in the case of Continental Airlines). When the Dublin CBP facility is up and running (which we are told will be mid next year) then we will be able to move all our operations to domestic terminals in the United States (subject to our being able to break existing leases and agreements) and so expect to be in a position to avail of the facilities.”
The Labour Transport spokesperson Tommy Broughan T.D. has expressed extreme disappointment at the decision by Aer Lingus not to use the new preclearance facilities for US customs and immigration at Shannon Airport.
