Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport is unique both in its location and its place in the history of world aviation. Of all European Airports it is situated at the most western point, making it the ideal stepping stone between the old world and the new. Chosen for its geographical position as the transatlantic gateway between Europe and America, Shannon was designated as Ireland’s Transatlantic Airport at its inception by the Irish Government.
The airport itself covers about 2,000 acres in County Clare on the north bank of the Shannon Estuary and is located approximately 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Limerick City and a similar distance south of Ennis.
Shannon Airport meets all the requirements of a first class international airport and much more. Runway (06-24) is capable of taking the largest type of aircraft now in operation. This facility is used by scheduled and non-scheduled carriers. Together with Shannon’s temperate and varied weather conditions, it makes the airport an ideal location for flight training.
There are almost 2000 people employed at the airport (not counting the nearby Industrial Estate) of which the airport itself employs about 500. The remainder are employed by a number of State Services including Air Traffic Control, State Radio, the Meteorological Service, Immigration, Customs, Agriculture, Public Health and Telecom as well as commercial services such as airlines, aircraft handling agencies, car hire, tourism interests, taxi hire and fuel companies. In addition some 1,000 temporary staff are recruited during the peak summer season.
The airport is used by around 20,000 scheduled commercial aircraft and nearly 8,500 non-scheduled commercial aircraft. In all, there are around 26,000 aircraft movements at Shannon every year.