Shannon Airport celebrated Ryanair passing 13m passengers yesterday and underlined the importance of its presence to connectivity for the West of Ireland.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was on hand to mark the moment by presenting the 13th millionth passenger with a Ryanair family flight and then gave away a free flight to all passengers queuing for the 10:05am Wroclaw service.

In equally generous mood, Shannon Airport gifted Shannon Duty Free shopping vouchers, executive Lounge passes and Shannon Duty Free hampers for all passengers on the packed flight [all passengers were apparently able to carry these goods onboard free of any fines-Ed].

The 13th millionth passenger was identified as Piotr Rachuta who was travelling back to Poland on the Shannon-Wroclaw flight with his wife Marta and 4-year old daughter Amelia. “I didn’t expect this today when I came to Shannon Airport for sure,” he said.  “I am very surprised and very happy.”

A press conference was subsequently attended attended by 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.  

RYANAIR HAS EFFECTIVELY ‘SAVED’ SHANNON…
She said: “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.”

(Right) Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary might be an unlikely candidate for any title of ‘saviour’, but the presence of Ryanair at Shannon Airport has certainly been a lifesaver for the West of Ireland’s tourism industry.

 

In 2013, Shannon processed 1.4m passengers, halting an ongoing decline in passenger numbers and airport CEO Neil Pakey said yesterday that the current Ryanair mix at Shannon is now 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.

BIG TOURISM BENEFITS
“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.”

 

 

Andrew Murphy (left) Chief Commercial Officer at Shannon Airport with Neil Pakey, CEO of the Shannon Group , pictured at the revamp of Shannon Duty Free last November.

 

As reported last November, the west of Ireland airport dropped its commercial ‘The Loop’ branding last November and the airport – the acknowledged birth place of duty free – has since signed a new deal with Germany’s Gebr. Heinemann to supply its stores. [See story here: http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php/regional/europe/16328-shannon-airport-drops-the-loop-revives-old-df-name-and-partners-with-heinemann.html]