Christmas came early for a Ryanair passenger and his family today as Michael O’Leary turned up in person to congratulate them for becoming the airline’s 13th million passenger at Shannon Airport.
The Ryanair CEO surprised Piotr Rachuta, who was travelling back to Poland on the Shannon-Wroclaw flight with his wife Marta and 4 year old daughter Amelia, by announcing him on the airport tannoy as the lucky 13th million passenger.
“I didn’t expect this today when I came to Shannon Airport for sure. I am very surprised and very happy,” a beaming Mr Rachuta said after he was approached by Mr O’Leary and presented with a free return Ryanair flight and overnight accommodation for his family.
Mr O’Leary raised a big cheer also as he announced his own version of ‘one for everybody in the audience’ as he also gave away a free flight to all passengers for the 10:05a.m. Wroclaw flight. The airport also weighed with the festive gifts as they presented the winners with Shannon Duty Free shopping vouchers and executive Lounge passes while all on the flight also received a Shannon Duty Free hamper.
Afterwards, at a press conference attended by Mr O’Leary and local politicians including Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, T.D., to mark the milestone passenger achievement, Airport Chairman Rose Hynes said that the airline’s contribution to the region over the years has been immeasurable. “If someone had told us when Ryanair started operating here first that they would have 19 destinations and deliver their 13th millionth passenger this year, you would hardly have believed it possible.
“They have significantly reduced the cost of air travel for everyone and given us connectivity to locations that we otherwise would not have. That has been hugely important for this region, both from an outbound and inbound passenger perspective. As an island nation we are extremely dependent on air links and, as the most westerly region in Europe, here on this side of the island we are even more so.”
Airport CEO Neil Pakey said that the current Ryanair mix at Shannon is a healthy balance for both holiday and business in and out of the region. “Ryanair, which is playing a major role in the newly independent Shannon’s growth, put on 10 new routes this year and that is going to translate into 167% growth in European passenger numbers through Shannon. The great thing is that there is a really strong balance between inbound and outbound on this.
“They have really satisfied the demand for holidays, short breaks or even business travel out of this region. But the introduction of services from France and Germany, in particular, this year has also been hugely beneficial from an inbound tourism perspective and generated a lot of much appreciated revenue for the local economy.
“The abolition of the travel tax has been hugely important to us. The Minister threw down the gauntlet to the airlines when he effectively gave them three months to deliver, or else he would reinstate it. This was brave and imaginative and most importantly it has paid off in terms of stimulating the tourism economy in this country.”
