Shannon Airport has received a significant vote of confidence from today’s Ryanair announcement of the airline’s plans to increase passenger numbers in the 2015 summer season by up to 18%.

Welcoming Ryanair’s announcement of its summer schedule for Shannon Airport in 2015, Mr Pakey said that the projected increase in passenger numbers is good for Shannon Airport and the wider region.

Ryanair’s 2015 summer schedule will see it operate services to 19 destinations in all, one more than this year, with Kaunas (Lithuania) new and Manchester replacing Liverpool on next year’s schedule.  This amounts to ten new destinations that the airline will have added to what it operated in 2013.

“Ryanair placed a strong vote of confidence in Shannon in 2014 with nine new routes and 18 destinations.  The fact that it is coming back with 19 destinations, greater frequencies than last year and planning to grow passengers by up to 18% shows that its confidence was well placed.

“We are particularly pleased with the retention of the new routes that Ryanair added this year, not least the ones with strong inbound potential, such as from Germany and France.  This is very important for the region, all the more so as awareness of the Wild Atlantic Way grows.

“There is also an excellent range of summer sun destinations for holiday makers so the schedule really has an excellent mix of inbound and outbound options.”

Mr Pakey added:  “2014 has been a pivotal year for us at Shannon and Ryanair has been hugely instrumental in this, not least on our European network, where we have achieved growth of almost 60% at this stage of the year compared to same period in 2013. We look forward to working closely with Ryanair to ensuring their 2015 summer schedule delivers for them, the airport and this region.

“We would also call on the public to continue to support our routes from Shannon in summer 2015 as this is essential for growing services with Ryanair into the future.”