In October, I wrote that Ryanair was threatening Shannon airport with extinction. The airport and its biggest customer were at loggerheads over a new $15 departure tax. Ryanair threatened to leave if the tax was not removed. The tax stayed and Ryanair is slashing its service and its aircraft base.
The airline accounted for 60 percent of the airport’s business. That ain’t small potatoes. I was certain that the city fathers would find a way to keep Ryanair happy, but they decided that they loved their taxes more than air service.
In March Ryanair is reducing it based aircraft at Shannon to a single plane. All other service will come from other bases.
Shannon Airport is pleased that Ryanair has pledged to continue the operation of eight routes from Shannon with its remaining based aircraft, including important connections to airports such as Stansted, Gatwick, Paris Beauvais and Malaga. “We wish to see Ryanair continue serving Shannon in the future but it has to be on a basis that is commercially viable for both Shannon Airport and for Ryanair,” Mr Moroney added.
This tax battle is being repeated again in Dublin. Ryanair outlines the tax benefits of having some 3,000 people working rather than on the “dole.” However, once again, decisions are being made based on the assumption that there will no repercussions from the increased taxes. Ryanair says demand will drop and so will its flights. Therefore the airline will cut service.
Shannon didn’t listen and now other nearby airports such as Kerry and Knock are getting new international service to fill the gap left from the shift of Ryanair aircraft from Shannon.
Shannon Airport, one of the economic lynchpins of western Ireland is facing a triple-whammy with the downsizing of Aer Lingus and the shift in the government’s requirement that all transatlantic flights arrive and depart from Shannon in addition to the deep cuts in service by Ryanair.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
