[Dutch Roll]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0805/aerlingus.html

Just read this here,aldergrove will benefit no doubt

[Dutch Roll]

i find it cringing all the lobbyists coming out complaining looking for a U-turn,its a business not a charity.Fair enough heathrow is a gateway and a vital link but all the talk of dropping a cork/dub flight for a slot is a joke,hasn't shannon been on the receiving end of some ''gifts'' over the years.

[dowlingm]

I blame Clare County Council principally. An intercontinental ETOPS diversion airport should be surrounded by a bustling city at least the size of Limerick providing catchment whereas Shannon is still largely dullsville, entirely dependent on the public funding from Shannon Development. Development of Shannon could have funded a loop of the rail line from Ennis to Limerick to serve the town, airport and free zone.

Instead Clare CC sat in congested Ennis and spent time fighting with Limerick over a boundary extension while the "Mayor of Clare" flies to Halifax supposedly to drum up flights from Nova Scotia.

[Dutch Roll]

Thats true shannon town is extremely unattractive,theres nothing there and they made a b**ls of the setup of Shannon town in the first place

[Hoss]

Interesting to see Mick O'Leary rushing to Shannon's support, I wonder could it have anything to do with the report in the September 2007 issue of Airliner World magazine that 'Ryanair is set to announce a major expansion of flights from Northern Ireland (according to the Irish press). It is understood to have had discussions with both Belfast airports -- with a view to opening a base at one of them before the end of the year'

[scraggane]

i find it cringing all the lobbyists coming out complaining looking for a U-turn,its a business not a charity.Fair enough heathrow is a gateway and a vital link but all the talk of dropping a cork/dub flight for a slot is a joke,hasn't shannon been on the receiving end of some ''gifts'' over the years.

ever hear of 'balanced regional development'?? Ireland needs a counterweight to the overheating sprawling urban chaos that is the Dublin metropolitan zone. This has been recommended time after time by independent experts for the last 40 years, but little has been done to bring it about, save for investment in Shannon. It's the role of government to ensure that their policies are implemented. One of those is the above-mentioned 'balanced regional development' but in this case it is a fantasy policy intended to buy votes outside of Dublin. Very little is actually being done.

And also, why did the government maintain a 25% share in Aer lIngus if not to use it in the national interest. The argument that it shouldn't intervene because of commercial interests is simplistic at best.

[dowlingm]

balanced regional development is a myth. The Spatial Strategy was a fiasco. Ironically if it had been implemented properly somewhere like Shannon would have been a good candidate to become a proper conurbation with Limerick and be a real contender but no, we have have hubs and all sorts in every feckin parish because no TD could go home and admit he didn't get one.

[oldvolvotincan]

Funny didn't see anyone jumping up and down out west when American Airlines announced they were dumping Shannon. Didn't see you doing a war dance when Ryanair turned up and drove 4 airlines out of Shannon. Wheres the protest marches over Belavia stopping flights to Minsk.

Aerlingus at the end of the day are a PRIVATE company and they can do what they like irrespective of what people think.

The Government won't back any vote against Aerlingus there is more at stake than just Shannon you know.

For years you have been spoilt with handouts which have included The Shannon Stopover. I understand peoples concerns about connectivity but Cityjet are considering services to London City which for Business flyers is perfect but i believe people out west have stamped there feet over this complaining its not good enough. They are also thinking of flying to Paris.

There is not enough traffic out of Shannon how many times have airlines tried flying the Shannon-Dublin route after the Business groups roared about there not being any flights early enough or late enough. Funny when they did start the route no one used it.

Aerlingus are a Business(In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit.) When that profit gets smaller companies seek bigger and better markets to make more money.

[Dutch Roll]

good post,im pretty sick of seeing RTE every day around SNN