Is Shannon an international or a regional airport?

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Is State-owned Shannon Airport a regional or an international airport?

On Wednesday, the Shannon Airport Group welcomed the announcement that it had been included in the Government’s new regional airports programme out to 2030.

This followed a decision to broaden the scope of the supports to airports with up to three million passengers on average over the two preceding financial years (previously it was available only to those with traffic below one million passengers a year). So Shannon made the cut this time.

“Including Shannon Airport in the regional airports programme supports this critical national infrastructure as it continues to grow towards three million passengers,” Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said.

The move gives Shannon access to a €45 million pot of funding from the State over the next five years, alongside Ireland West Knock, Kerry and Donegal airports.

Cork and Dublin airports, both operated by State-owned DAA, are expected to stand on their own two feet financially.

Airports are cash-hungry facilities, requiring constant upgrading and modernisation, particularly in relation to security processes. So access to this money will no doubt fund important infrastructure and kit at Shannon.

But its designation as a regional airport jars with the airport’s traditional posture as an international gateway, on par with Dublin and Cork. On the Shannon Airport website, a page to promote advertising opportunities says: “Nothing compares with the opportunity of promoting your brand at a major international airport.”

Shannon handled 2.3 million passengers last year while the other three airports between them handled just over 1.4 million.

Shannon’s numbers include passengers flying on routes to the United States (more than 300,000 a year), and it has the longest runway in Ireland. It also offers a 24-hour emergency service for aircraft using Irish airspace.

And let’s not forget that Shannon was the birthplace of duty-free airport shopping in the late 1940s, and had the first US pre-clearance border facilities in the State.

Its independence from DAA more than a decade ago was supposed to give it the freedom to soar. Curious then that it has joined the regional cluster of airports, requiring the crutch of State aid.