There are concerns that Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling is set to axe its Shannon to Paris route just six months after it commenced.
There has been speculation since the beginning of the year that the airline would cease operating services from Shannon and Cork to Paris Orly. It now looks like both services will come to an end on June 10th and 11th respectively. Flights are not currently available to book on the routes from these dates.
The twice weekly service, which began just last September, was announced early last summer and was widely welcomed.
It was first time in almost seven years that passengers had the option of flying to the French capital from Shannon. Paris was previously served by both Ryanair and Aer Lingus both of whom axed their routes.
Ryanair had operated a service to Paris Beauvais but pulled it in 2010 despite its success and profitability. The airline did so at the time in protest at daa plc’s plans to increase passenger charges at Shannon by €1.53.
Aer Lingus took up the slack from the loss of that service by resuming flights to Paris Charles De Gaulle for the first time in almost a decade. The service was however short lived.
Ryanair later restarted the route when the Irish Government abolished its controversial ‘travel tax’. Ryanair later dropped the twice weekly service citing “aircraft capacity constraints.”
In November 2019, Aer Lingus confirmed that it would add two new routes to its Shannon schedule from 2020 including Paris. However, with the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic, that plan was scrapped.
Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara said: “This is very disappointing and underlines the transitory nature of route selection by airlines. It highlights the challenges posed for smaller airports like Shannon in securing and retaining routes to major cities and key hubs. International connectivity is critical to Shannon Airport and the Midwest, and I hope that another airline will consider stepping in to operate what appeared to be a popular service for people in the region and beyond.”
A comment is awaited from Vueling while the Shannon Airport Group has referred queries relating to the service to the airline.
A spokesperson for Cork Airport confirmed that Vueling will cease operations from Cork to Paris (Orly), with the last flight operating on June 11.
