TURKISH delight was on the menu in Shannon this week with the announcement that a charter operator is to double the number of its flights to Bodrum in 2013. Up to 6,000 extra passengers are expected through the airport next year as the WingsAbroad company extends its Shannon service. The company has confirmed that it’s to double its flights to Bodrum in Turkey next summer, after a successful first season this year.
“I am delighted with the success of our Shannon service to Bodrum this summer, due to the large support we received from the travel trade and our customers in the region,” said Tayfun Gokpinar, Managing Director, WingsAbroad. “We have a large customer base in the Shannon and Munster region and, thanks to all the support received from our customers and Shannon Airport, we are now able to invest further in the Shannon market.”
The service will now operate from the end of May, finishing in late September.
Declan Power, Senior manager of Aviation Business Development at Shannon, says the move is a “vote of confidence” for the airport.
But there may still be trouble brewing for the three airports under the control of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) as a row between Aer Lingus, airport staff and the DAA concerning pensions has yet to be resolved.
Employees from both the DAA and Aer Lingus pay into the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme, which is currently underfunded by close to €750 million. The unions have already threatened industrial action unless an agreement is reached and this could close Shannon airport as well as Dublin and Cork.
The matter is the subject of negotiations under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission but the last set of talks there broke down without any definite date as yet for the parties to sit down again.
Meanwhile on a visit to Limerick earlier this week, Transport MInister Leo Varadkar was saying little about when it can be expected that the airport will separate from the DAA.
Two taskforce reports are due at the end of next month in relation to independence for the airport but the MInister would only say that he was expecting the reports.
The aviation business development group was tasked with seeking out and evaluating aviation-linked business opportunities for the new Shannon entity, while the change management group has been developing transitional arrangements for appropriate corporate, managerial and operational structures of the new Shannon.
