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Mayor Of Clare welcomes Shannon Airport Authority package of incentives
The Mayor of Clare has welcomed the yesterday`s (10 September) announcement by the Shannon Airport Authority that it has drawn up a package of incentives aimed at attracting new airlines into Shannon from strategic European hubs. Cllr. Patricia McCarthy expressed disappointment, however, that the Authority had delayed in developing and offering such incentives.

Following a meeting of the Board of the Shannon Airport Authority, the SAA has specifically identified airline services to the key European Hub airports of London-Heathrow (LHR), Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS) and Frankfurt Main (FRA) as being of key strategic importance to its ongoing development.

The European Hub Airport Incentive is due to come into operation on 1st January 2008.

Regardless of the unnecessary and unhelpful delay in developing this package, I welcome the Shannon Airport Authority`s move to seek the retention of permanent and quality connectivity to an international hub, following Aer Lingus`s decision to abandon its Shannon-Heathrow service, explained the Mayor.

She continued, The onward connectivity that would be provided between Shannon and Frankfurt Main, Paris Charles de Gaulle or Amsterdam Schiphol would contribute greatly to the future development of business and tourism in the wider Shannon Region. However, any improvement in connectivity cannot be at the expense of the critical Shannon Heathrow service. Business, political, tourism and community leaders in the West of Ireland will continue to pursue the absolute need to retain direct services between Shannon and London-Heathrow.

Mayor McCarthy said that the long-standing direct link between the County Clare airport and Heathrow has played a major role in the economic and tourism development of the Region.

Over the years multinational companies have located to the West of Ireland due to the existence of the Shannon-Heathrow service. Numerous multinationals have stated such high quality access is irreplaceable and remains key to maintaining their operations in the Western region, which is why it is imperative that the existing Shannon-Heathrow route be retained, concluded the Mayor. Michael Verikios - Tuesday, September 11, 2007