GOOD fortune is set for takeoff at Shannon airport with the news this week that a new scheduled service will carry an extra 20,000 passengers to Portugal this summer.
Confirmation that Aer Lingus is to provide three flights a week to Faro in the Algarve comes ahead of an announcement expected in the coming week on the future of the airport as a separate entity from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).
This is the fourth good news story to emerge from Shannon in recent weeks and follows the decision by US Airways to recommence its daily service to Philadelphia after an absence of four years.
Along with the recent announcement of a new connection with Chicago, this will mean an extra 50,000 US passengers this summer, representing a 22 per cent increase in that market since last year.
And last month, Turkey holiday specialists, Wings Abroad announced it will treble the number of seats it is offering from Shannon for the summer season.
The new flights to Faro will operate three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting on May 1. Flights go on sale on aerlingus.com this week starting at €59.99 one-way.
Welcoming the announcement Shannon Airport Director Mary Considine said it was excellent news for Shannon as 2012 had been a challenging year for the airport in terms of airline services and passenger traffic volumes.
“However we are finishing out the year on a really positive note with the recent announcements”, she said.
Aer Lingus will generate an estimated 570,000 plus passengers through Shannon next year on key destinations such as New York, Boston, London-Heathrow, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Faro.
Aer Lingus Director of Communications Declan Kearney said they were delighted to launch a new service from Shannon to Faro which was a popular holiday destination and an important gateway to the Algarve.
