Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has said that he has been extremely encouraged by Shannon Airport’s start to life as an independent entity.
Speaking during a visit to the airport one year on from it being made an independent entity, Minister Varadkar said that the current progress for Shannon bodes well for the future.
The Minister also welcomed the announcement today by Shannon Airport that it is to embark on a programme of new hangar development after achieving full occupancy of its existing capacity.
This follows the signing of a contract for an eight year lease by Air Contractors, a member of the ASL Aviation group, with the Shannon Group for the remaining hangar space at the airport. This will be used by Air Contractors for line maintenance on its fleet of Boeing and ATR aircraft, including its Boeing 757 aircrafts which will be flown by Aer Lingus on the new daily Shannon-Boston service launched last week and its six times weekly JFK New York service that commences in March.
The airport currently has 50,700sq meters of space in nine hangars, all of which will be fully occupied following the signing of contracts with Air Contractors. To meet a current request for near term additional hangar space, the board of the Shannon Group recently agreed to seek planning permission and to tender for the procurement and associated works of a fabric hangar of 4,300sq metres capable of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft.
It is anticipated the new hangar – intended to be the first of a number of new hangars developed at Shannon – will be built and open for business by the end of the year. The Airport has already had discussions with a number of interested parties in relation to the use of this new facility.
Welcoming the overall progress at Shannon, Minister Varadkar said Shannon had stepped up to the mark as a key economic driver for the region.
“Recent high profile investments in this region like the Regeneron announcement for Limerick and Donald Trump’s acquisition of and planned investment in Doonbeg would not be happening were it not for Shannon Airport’s presence. In that regard, the renewed energy and vibrancy at the airport is very welcome”, Mr Varadkar added.
