[highlydebased]

Originally Posted by mayotom

with a better catchment area due to lack of Roads etc.

I think that is an oxymoron.

[mayotom]

Originally Posted by highlydebased

I think that is an oxymoron.

or a paradox, the point been that the Shannon Catchment area has a much higher population, but it is also much more accessible to the larger airports like DUB and ORK. Therefore Knock with a smaller population would still have more potential passengers..

[clintondaly]

Ryanair will keep a route open no matter where as long as it makes money.

Whats going to happen if the proposed airport in Athlone goes ahead?

As for ideas as to what to do with Shannon,yes Cargo is an option as is the humanitarian hub,why not have a facility like Westpark with similiar Tax incentives and take some of the Leasing companies out of the IFSC.

Or,how about using Shannon as a hub for Transatlantic Ryanair like Airlines.Ship everyone from Europe(using secondary airports) into Shannon,use the preclearance facilities,everyone gets on to B757/767 A330/340 etc. etc and fly them all to secondary airports in the US,feasible?

[A320]

Originally Posted by clintondaly

Whats going to happen if the proposed airport in Athlone goes ahead?

Huh????

[MYOB]

Originally Posted by A320

Huh????

It won't happen.

Some private developer has suggested building a "Midlands International" airport/ cargo hub (why would anyone hub where there is zero native traffic?) for near Clara.

[kub]

Originally Posted by clintondaly

Ryanair will keep a route open no matter where as long as it makes money.

Whats going to happen if the proposed airport in Athlone goes ahead?

As for ideas as to what to do with Shannon,yes Cargo is an option as is the humanitarian hub,why not have a facility like Westpark with similiar Tax incentives and take some of the Leasing companies out of the IFSC.

Or,how about using Shannon as a hub for Transatlantic Ryanair like Airlines.Ship everyone from Europe(using secondary airports) into Shannon,use the preclearance facilities,everyone gets on to B757/767 A330/340 etc. etc and fly them all to secondary airports in the US,feasible?

Firstly, love the Clare but more importantly from Cork , great ideas hopefully someone down in Shannon reads that. But as mentioned, Airport in Athlone, Huh?

[clintondaly]

Originally Posted by kub

Firstly, love the Clare but more importantly from Cork , great ideas hopefully someone down in Shannon reads that. But as mentioned, Airport in Athlone, Huh?

Answered just above,part of the submission for the Chinese manufacturing showcase facility in Athlone.

[MYOB]

Originally Posted by clintondaly

Answered just above,part of the submission for the Chinese manufacturing showcase facility in Athlone.

It'd make more sense if it was part of that - but it was suggested before it! I despair at some of the boomtime gibberish this country came up with...

[roundymac]

Originally Posted by clintondaly

Answered just above,part of the submission for the Chinese manufacturing showcase facility in Athlone.

An Taisce have lodged an objection to that proposal. first of many I would suspect.

[Suits]

Originally Posted by clintondaly

Or,how about using Shannon as a hub for Transatlantic Ryanair like Airlines.Ship everyone from Europe(using secondary airports) into Shannon,use the preclearance facilities,everyone gets on to B757/767 A330/340 etc. etc and fly them all to secondary airports in the US,feasible?

"Ryanair" type airlines dont like wasting money...which this would be. If you flew to a secondary airport in the US chances are it would not have a massive amount of foreign/European traffic so there wouldnt be too much of a que at immigration. The pre-clearance was set up to try and cut down on ques in the major US airports...the ones at the secondary airports are less.

In any case this would be a re-emergence of the dreaded "Shannon Stopover" which in name and appearance would not be a great PR move....

[Tenger]

Originally Posted by Suits

.....If you flew to a secondary airport in the US chances are it would not have a massive amount of foreign/European traffic so there wouldnt be too much of a que at immigration. The pre-clearance was set up to try and cut down on ques in the major US airports...the ones at the secondary airports are less.....

Actually the SNN/DUB CBP pre-clearance combined with the Open Skies agreement between USA/EU allows access to any/and all airports in the USA.

Without the CBP pre-clearance any international flight into the USA must operate into a limited number of internationally equipped airports. In theory you could fly from SNN into La Guardia (LGA) thus by-passing both Newark and JFK for flights into New York. (LGA currently does not have direct flights to/from Europe)

Avoiding the queues in EWR/JFK/BOS/ORD/PHL is just a secondary benefit!!

[Suits]

Originally Posted by Tenger

Actually the SNN/DUB CBP pre-clearance combined with the Open Skies agreement between USA/EU allows access to any/and all airports in the USA.

Without the CBP pre-clearance any international flight into the USA must operate into a limited number of internationally equipped airports. In theory you could fly from SNN into La Guardia (LGA) thus by-passing both Newark and JFK for flights into New York. (LGA currently does not have direct flights to/from Europe)

Avoiding the queues in EWR/JFK/BOS/ORD/PHL is just a secondary benefit!!

I cant see any airline stopping in Shannon though. If "Ryanatlantic" wanted to fly to the US I'd imagine they'd sort immigration issues at the departure/destination airports as they would most likely get a lot of traffic from the airline. They'd create an immigration booth in LGA, Buffalo, Midway, Oakland, Providence etc I'd imagine if multiple flights a day were coming in from across european bases and there wasnt one already.

[Dacian]

Actually Suits, any LCC across the Atlantic is restricted to the airports it can serve.

While Open Skies allows EU airlines to start routes to any US city, they are still limited by US CBP who do not have international facilities in every airport. And you cannot 'just sort out immigration at departure/arrival airport' for the USA. EI, who are a very well established EU-US airline, have been in discussions with the CBP for over a year about some of their difficulties with the current set-up.

Ireland is the only country (other than Canada and Bermuda) to have such facilities. This is a huge advantage, and the entire logic supporting SNN as a possible TransAtlantic LCC hub operation. In practise only flights from Ireland can take full advantage of the EU-USA Open Skies agreement.

[Davidth88]

Originally Posted by Tea 1000

But expensive parking dissuades passengers and expensive fees dissuades airlines.

I looked at this , parking at Shannon is nearly 2 euro per day MORE EXPENSIVE than Dublin , thats mad . Interestingly it's the same sort of price as Cork and knock.

I am surprised that the provincial airports don't undercut Dublin .

I think Shannon is missing out on a trick with the US customs / Immigration . Look at the BA001 flight form London City .

They should be talking to LH/AF and others and see if similar flights could be marketed.

[urajoke]

Originally Posted by Davidth88

.

I think Shannon is missing out on a trick with the US customs / Immigration . Look at the BA001 flight form London City .

They should be talking to LH/AF and others and see if similar flights could be marketed.

First of all they would have to find the French and German version of London City airport and then try and get AF/LH to fly from it.

I think you are missing the point with this route, it's very specific to one airport London City, right beside a major financial district on a dock with water on three sides and a very short runway. Why do you think BA haven't increased flights or started more ? WE ARE IN A GLOBAL FINANCIAL RECESSION. BA are very lucky to be still getting enough business travellers to keep this route running. It suits BA to operate this route as the flight needs to make a westbound stop anyway for fuel and it just happens that Shannon is so quiet that they have no problems with delays and it has US customs and Immigration so the passengers can fill the time productively while they refuel.

Airlines don't open routes because aviation enthusiasts thing they should.

People who live near Shannon should wake up and smell the coffee. The airports future is very limited and once again forcing/encouraging airlines to make unnecessary stopovers to keep it open and running is NOT the way to market yourself.