Aer Lingus has officially announced its intentions to shut down its Shannon Airport cargo facility before 2024 concludes. This decision came after the airline, a branch of the International Airlines Group (IAG), performed an analysis of its Shannon operations.
The airline has noted that the Shannon cargo building would need a substantial financial investment, an undertaking that isn’t justified given the lack of activity in the airport.
IAG Cargo will initiate discussions with affected staff members in the subsequent weeks. In a released statement, Aer Lingus stated that the decision stemmed from the requirement of a large capital injection that couldn’t be aligned with the Shannon Airport’s limited cargo activity. Thus, the firm will begin exploring alternatives through dialogues with employee representatives.
Over the past several years, cargo volumes at Shannon have reduced by 50% and did not rebound post-pandemic, rendering the presence at this venue untenable.
The airline remarked that, despite the efforts to secure more cargo business for the facility, it was reluctantly determined that Irish operations could no longer justify a specific presence in Shannon, particularly considering over 95% of all cargo from Shannon is transported by road for departure or arrival from Dublin.
Last year, Aer Lingus declared its aim to close its crew base at Shannon Airport, attributing the decision to a €103 million loss incurred in the year’s first quarter. This came atop a cumulative loss of €361 million in the year prior. Furthermore, in 2012, Aer Lingus shut down its maintenance base at the midwestern airport.
A representative from the Shannon Airport Group expressed his thoughts about the decision, highlighting that the Aer Lingus freight centre has been functioning since 1969. The spokesperson stated that Aer Lingus, a member of the IAG group, continues to be a respected and longstanding flight partner of Shannon Airport, and they plan to maintain this cooperative affiliation.
Aer Lingus runs numerous passenger services out of Shannon Airport, such as everyday transatlantic flights headed for New York JFK and Boston, thrice daily flights to London Heathrow, as well as a service to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. The Shannon Airport Group pledged to cooperate closely with Aer Lingus to explore any prospective opportunities in the future that would ensure the continued role of the airport as a crucial hub for both passenger and cargo operations.
The spokesperson reassured that Shannon boasts a robust cargo operation and they are committed to continuing their work with their other cargo operators at Shannon Airport, such as DHL, UPS and FedEx. They promise to keep serving their community and to support the development and resilience of their local economy, with a focus on maintaining superior levels of service and connectivity for their patrons. They also intend to continue to aim at attracting further business and investment to their airport.
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil’s transport spokesman in the Seanad, expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision taken by Aer Lingus. According to him, it will significantly and negatively affect the impacted families and the local economy. He appealed to Aer Lingus to initiate dialogues with the staff to explore ways of preserving their employment and, failing that, to offer them a fair redundancy package, particularly as many of them have spent their entire career at the facility.