Did Shannon have more than one runway in the past?

09/27

14/32

18/36

Evolve to 13/31(14/32)

05/23

Then 06/24 with 13/31

Then 06/24 left

Very intelligent post.

Shannon's runway is in a fairly good direction for the majority of the strong winds which come from the southwest. Modern planes are better able to deal with crosswinds than older planes. Its not worth the extra cost of maintaining another runway and these are generally used for parking aircraft that are in storage or maintenance.

Shannon runways.

Past and present.

Like most things in life its complicated and requires a bit of explanation.

iAIP Ireland refers. Scroll down to Shannon AD 2.24-1 for a good map

Shannon airport was envisioned in the 1930's and its initial construction reflects this.

3 runways were laid down in N/S (18/36), E/W (09/27) and SW/NW (14/32).

The idea was that regardless of the wind there would be a runway available.

Instrument landing systems and radar did not exist.

They were made using good old fashioned concrete sections.

Roll on WW II and the improvement in both aircraft and technology.

in the late 1940's DC6, Super Constellation and the Boeing 377 were the bees knees.

Flying boats were yesterdays tech, bye bye Foynes and the lagoon.

However they needed a longer runway so 05/23 was built.

Next came the jet age.

05/23 was no longer suitable so they moved north and built 06/24.

B707(B720)/DC8 while quad jets were a product of their time and the outermost pods did not have great ground clearance.

This runway was standard width 45m but also had 8m shoulders.

14/32 was kept in service for smaller aircraft as a cross runway .

As the magnetic pole moved 14/32 became 13/31

Remember I mentioned its made from concrete sections.

Concrete sections and boggy ground did not prove to be a good mix.

As they settled they became locked in place and were very uneven.

To remediate this they laid asphalt from the 31 threshold to about half way along (probably D1/D2 intersection).

This did not work.

If you visit Shannon you will see this on the road into the airport which was also made from concrete.

Although its covered with tarmac now you will experience the occasional "thump" as 2 underlying sections meet.

A wonderful phrase was put in the AIP.

"the longitudinal slope of 13/31 is not in conformation with ICAO standard" (close enough as I cant remember the exact wording)

It was also limited to aircraft of 25000kg or less. Fokker 27/50 or smaller.

No instrument landing system installed but the VOR was on the field at that time.

So technically a VOR approach may have been possible but this was gone by 1990.

PAR approaches were discontinued but vectors for a "cloud break" approach were possible for a while. Posh way of saying you hope he can see the runway.

The lights were to be upgraded from the "simple" configuration so the old ones were removed and sold on.

The upgrade never happened and the ducts filled with water so became unusable.

The VASI's got old and the planned PAPI replacement never happened.

Initially 13/31 was removed from service while a decision was to be made as to its future.

Then finally an economic decision was taken to reclassify it as disused pavement.

Times changed and technology evolved.

Bigger and better aircraft became the norm and turboprops were relegated to "regional routes".

The prevailing wind is from the SW so crosswinds while an issue are not a major factor.

Back to our map AD2.24-1

13/31 is now Taxiways H1, H2 and disused pavement.

09/27 runs from Taxiway "A" across and is disused pavement.

18/36 is Taxiway "C" and disused pavement.

05/23 runs from the west apron up and crosses C and D2 taxiways and is disused pavement.

Some of the disused pavement is used for parking and storage of aircraft.

All you need is here: https://konbriefing.com/mad/approach-charts/ie-republic-of-ireland/shannon-airport.html

Can taxi in from the apron end and out via H2 or vice versa