Ryanair has delivered another hammer blow to Shannon airport announcing a further 21% cut in services at the mid-west airport.
The airline announced that from November 1st, its Shannon-Paris route will be closed while their Shannon-Gatwick route will be cut from 7 to 6 rotations per week
The Shannon-Stansted service is expected be cut from 13 to 11 rotations per week.
The move is in protest at Shannon Airport’s planned adjustment of its aeronautical charges by €1.58 per passenger. Ryanair had earlier described the increase as inexplicable and unjustified.
“The “triple whammy” of Shannon’s high costs, their refusal to extend Ryanair’s 5 year base deal, and the imposition of the Govt’s €10 tourist tax has devastated traffic, tourism and jobs at Shannon Airport and the Mid West region,” Ryanair said.
Shannon airport had said the adjustment would see a €1.58 increase per passenger, the first increase, it says, in prices at Shannon since 2004.
“This is a small, but necessary, increase in overall charges that reflects the fact that Shannon is loss-making and needs to improve its viability,” an airport spokesperson said in August.
The passenger charge at Shannon will now move to €6.32 bringing it in line with prices at other regional airports such as Cork and Knock.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary says Shannon Airport’s traffic in 2010 is on target to fall by 37% from 2.7 million passengers to 1.7 million.
“Already this winter Aer Lingus has announced the closure of the transatlantic routes for three months from January 2011.The Government’s €10 tourist tax has also made Shannon Airport totally uncompetitive as a gateway to the West of Ireland,” O’Leary said.
“It is clear that the Irish Government and the DAA monopoly, are determined to destroy Irish air traffic, Irish tourism and Irish jobs.”
He again called on the Government to rescind the controversial €10 tourist tax.
Following Wednesday’s announcement, the Mayor of Clare Christy Curtin called on the Shannon Airport Authority Chairperson Brian O’Connell to outline to Elected Members what plans the Shannon Airport Authority has for replacing the business lost as a result of the news.
“DAA must support the SAA in replacing the business lost as a result of Ryanair’s decision to curtail services,” he said.
Fine Gael’s Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs said the news has cast a dark cloud over the airport and this region.
“Axing the Paris route is a particularly hard hit as it leaves the Mid-West with no direct connectivity to Continental Europe,” Pat Breen said.
He says the big challenge now for the Airport Authority is to secure alternative carriers to service the lost routes.
Limerick TD Jan O’Sullivan described the news as a “major set back for the beleaguered airport and for the region.”
“While there are many reasons behind the Ryanair decision, the €10 air travel tax is most certainly a major factor, and I believe that it should now be scrapped,” she said.
“We now have the crazy situation where local people are travelling to Kerry Airport to fly to destinations that are no longer available at Shannon, ” Tadhg Kearne of the Limerick Chamber said.
“We now urgently need the Board of the DAA and the SAA to give us their concrete plans for the future development of the airport in particular how they plan to replace the 29 routes that have been lost.”
Wednesdays announcement was made at a press conference at the Clarion Hotel. In March 2009, the airline cut its routes out of Shannon from 30 to 25.
