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The birthplace of duty free, Shannon Airport has been hit by falling traffic and retail sales in recent years |
IRELAND. Shannon Airport, the birthplace of modern duty free, is to be split from parent company Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the Irish government has announced.
The move follows a review of the Irish airports system by government – which assessed the future ownership of Dublin, Cork and Shannon, as well as divisions such as Aer Rianta International (ARI). Cork Airport is to remain part of the DAA and there are no plans to divest ARI. To reflect the change in its structure, the DAA is to be renamed.
Shannon Airport will be positioned within a new entity together with parts of state-owned Shannon Development, which together will seek to develop aviation and tourism in Ireland’s mid-west region.
“This is a significant step in developing the aviation sector in Ireland and securing the future of Shannon airport. It heralds a new era for the Shannon region,” said Ireland’s Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar.
“We want to recapture the pioneering spirit of the people who gave us the airport and the Shannon Free Zone concept, so that we can provide exciting and innovative opportunities which benefit business, tourism, and job creation in the region, and across the country,” he added.
DAA will now work with a steering group that has been created to implement the government’s decision.
The move will be welcomed by businesses in the Shannon region, which believe that an independent Shannon Airport has a better future than one managed by the DAA. Importantly, the County Clare airport will be left with no debt under the proposed move, with legacy debts of around €100 million remaining with the DAA.
As reported, last November Minister Varadkar expressed his concerns about Shannon’s viability. He said: “There is a difficulty with Shannon. It is losing money. It is losing over €8 million a year and in the past that was okay, because the profits in Dublin were enough to cover it, but Dublin isn’t making money any more either, largely as a consequence of T2, so we need to make sure that Shannon is sustainable in its own right.”
He added at the time: “I would like to see Shannon operate as an autonomous entity running its own affairs, but that can only be done if it’s financially sustainable because there are not subsidies available for the airport.”
Under the leadership of the pioneering figure of Dr. Brendan O’Regan, Shannon Airport opened the world’s first airport duty free shop in 1947.
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ARI Ireland opened a refurbished Shannon Airport Departures store in November 2011 |
