Shannon Airport boss reveals latest passenger numbers

MORE THAN one-and-a-half million passengers travelled through Shannon Airport in 2022, new figures have revealed.

Mary Considine, Shannon's chief executive has pointed out that it means ridership through the hub is up by 300% from 2021, which like 2020, was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

She's predicted that this year, the local airport is on track to exceed its passenger numbers in 2019, as tourism continues to recover.

"Passenger numbers at Shannon Airport in 2022 exceeded our expectations," Ms Considine said, "The pent-up desire for international travel following the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions was reflected in an 88% recovery on 2019 passenger levels. We welcomed over 1.51 million passengers through our airport during 2022, which was a 300% increase on 2021 passenger numbers."

As for this year, she has pointed out that airlines will operate 35 routes to 11 countries from Shannon.

"We are delighted to be giving our customers more destinations to choose from, in fact we will have more routes this year than we did in 2019, with six brand new destinations. These new services are to Naples, Beziers, Newcastle, Porto, Liverpool, while our transatlantic services will be enhanced with the addition of a daily nonstop seasonal service to Chicago starting in May. By the end of 2023, we expect traffic volumes to have surpassed 2019 levels," predicted the chief executive.

As for sites formerly owned by Shannon Heritage, Ms Considine reported a "strong recovery" was made in 2022, with day visitor numbers back to 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

However, the release from the airport group announcing its annual results did not offer site-specific numbers, with Limerick's prime visitor attraction King John's Castle operating only partly through the year.

This attraction has been transferred to the ownership of Limerick City and County Council, while the process for moving the attractions in Clare - including Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher experience kicked off this week.

The Shannon Airport Group saw an increase of over 76% in turnover from continuing operations to €60.7m compared to just €34.5m in 2021.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation - which means the decline of an asset - for the group increased to €16.5 million from €8.6 million in 2021.