EBACE:Shannon eyes Middle Eastern traffic

Shannon airport in southern Ireland is keen to promote itself to Middle Eastern flyers, both corporate and airlines. The airport is on schedule to open its full US pre-clearance facility for airline operations in July and for business jets in September this year.
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The airport will offer travellers pre-clearance for US Immigration, Customs, and Agriculture.  Any airline or aircraft stopping at Shannon can take advantage of the facilities which are being built in a dedicated terminal expansion area.

For any carrier or operator the US border can become Shannon.  From Shannon it is then possible to fly anywhere in the US as it counts as a domestic flight.

“We’re certainly interested in making operators in the Middle East aware of this,” explained Joe Buckley the airport’s Cargo & Technical Traffic Development Manager at EBACE in Geneva.  And space is not an issue, the airport has a 3,200m runway and can accommodate the Space Shuttle, so Airbus’ superjumbo A380 can use it too.

Another advantage for travellers is that when arriving in the US and if connecting flights are needed, there’s no changing terminals and baggage is checked to the final destination.

The upgrade to offer the full suite of pre-clearance comes after a relationship that started in 1980 when the airport was able to offer immigration clearance.  “We think this is particularly interesting for Middle Eastern operators.  There’s much less hassle if you are travelling to the US,” Buckley added.

Business Aviation is welcome at Shannon Airport

 

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