Record numbers of US troops use Shannon

A record number of US troops passed through Shannon Airport during the first half of this year, according to figures released yesterday.

The Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) confirmed that more than 200,000 US troops passed through the airport and some 209,074 US soldiers used the airport facilities from January to the end of June - a rise of 36 per cent on the corresponding period last year.

Some €26 million in revenues is believed to have been generated for the SAA, delivering more than €4.5 million in profits for the authority over the first six months.

However, since the largest carrier, World Airways, has pulled out of Shannon since last Saturday and relocated to Leipzig, Germany, the numbers are set to drop dramatically.

A spokeswoman for the SAA said the carrier accounted for 50 per cent of the US troop passenger traffic going through Shannon. She confirmed that during the month of June, 31,333 troops passed through on 189 flights during the month of June - this followed 32,000 going through on 195 flights in May and 29,291 troops on 190 flights using the facilities in April.

The figure for the second quarter show that 92,624 troops passed through Shannon - down on the 116,540 troops that used Shannon in the first three months.

The airline has pulled out of Shannon before. In 2003 it relocated to Frankfurt before returning to Shannon in 2005.

Three other airlines transporting US troops to Iraq continue to use Shannon: Northwestern Airlines, American Transair and Omni Air International.

Troop traffic contributed to a 20 per cent increase in overall passenger traffic for the first six months of 2006 with 1.7 million passengers using Shannon.

Fine Gael Clare TD Pat Breen said yesterday: "Commercial troop business has always been part of Shannon business and local jobs will be the first casualty of the decision by World Airways to pull out of Shannon. The pull out will have a devastating effect on the region and in particular on the catering workers in Shannon Airport, where 3,000 meals a day were being prepared by them; the figure has now been reduced to 800."

The figures show that since the start of 2002, almost 900,000 troops have passed through Shannon.

At a Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee meeting last month, the chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority, Gary McGann, said that troop traffic "is not something Shannon can depend on in the long term. That business is already declining." The traffic accounts for €9 million in profits each year.