Shannon Group says it’s pleased with progress on restoring connectivity to Shannon Airport.
It follows confirmation from American Airlines that it’s resuming transatlantic services from the Midwest Airport next summer.
In the second positive announcement for Shannon in as many weeks, American Airlines has confirmed that it’s ‘already selling tickets’ for the resumption of its Philadelphia route.
Prior to the pandemic, the service operated the route betwen May and October every year and it’s intended that the first flight of 2022 will take off on May 9th.
The move comes hot on the heels of a similar annoucement from United Airlines, which has said its transatlantic service to Newark is currently scheduled to resume in March.
In a statement to Clare FM, Shannon Group say they’ve been in constant discussions with American Airlines and all their airline partners on the resumption of transatlantic services for 2022.
They say theses efforts will intensify, as they continue to build back air services and look to restore connectivity lost to the pandemic.
The collective Chambers of Commerce of Shannon, Ennis, Galway and Limerick and the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) has welcomed the recent positive developments.
CEO of Shannon Chamber, Helen Downes hopes the Government will now play its part in the further recovery of the airport.
The Tanaiste says the Government is willing to ‘put money on the table’ to incentivise airlines to restore routes lost in the Midwest due to the pandemic.
Delta Airlines says it has ‘nothing to share’ regarding a service restart date to Shannon at this time, while Aer Lingus has told Clare FM its schedule ‘remains under constant review’ for the rest of 2021 ‘and beyond’.
Leo Varadkar has told the Dáil that Government has a priority list for routes.
Ryanair, meanwhile, says it’s seen an enormous rise in bookings since Covid travel rules were relaxed.
The Digital Covid Cert has been in operation across the EU since the summer, and with the US to accept visitors again from November, bookings for flights are said to be booming.
Ryanair is operating 18 routes out of Shannon this winter to Spain, Italy, Hungary, the UK, and Scotland, six of which are new routes.
Chief Executive Michael O’Leary says they’ve seen an explosion of bookings.
