History
In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary. However, it was realised that changing technology would require a runway and airport.
In 1936 the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a 3.1 km2 (1.2 sq mi) site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport. The land on which the airport was to be built was boggy, and on 8 October 1936 work began to drain the land. By 1942 a serviceable airport had been established and was named Shannon Airport. By 1945 the existing runways at Shannon were extended to allow transatlantic flights to land.
When World War II ended, the airport was ready to be used by the many new post-war commercial airlines of Europe and North America. On 16 September 1945 the first transatlantic proving flight, a Pan Am DC-4, landed at Shannon from New York City. On 24 October, the first scheduled commercial flight, an American Overseas Airlines DC-4, passed through Shannon Airport.
The number of international carriers rose sharply in succeeding years as Shannon became well known as the gateway between Europe and the Americas. Limited aircraft range necessitated refuelling stops on many journeys. Shannon became the most convenient stopping point before and after the trip across the Atlantic.
Shannon Boasts Ireland's longest runway of over 3000 metres. It is a designated landing site for the Space shuttle.
Ryanair increased services at the airport up to 2008 increasing passenger numbers significantly. In 2008 after a disagreement with the DAA. Ryanair confirmed that the number of based aircraft would reduce from 4 to 1 and 150 jobs would be lost. Services were cut by 75%.
Aer Arann Launched services to 4 UK Destinations in 2010 under the Aer Lingus Regional Banner. 2 ATR 72 is now based at Shannon flying to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol and Rennes during the summer months.
Aer Lingus operates an Airbus a330 maintenance base at Shannon.
Read more about this topic: Shannon Airport
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