*Students and staff from St John’s NS in Shannon Airport. Photograph: Joe Buckley
AS IT PREPARES for its busiest Christmas in fourteen years, Shannon Airport is spreading the festive cheer.
More than 121,000 passengers are expected through the gates of Shannon Airport during the Christmas period representing an 18 percent jump on the same time in 2022 which had 75,000 passengers.
2023 will be the busiest Christmas at Shannon Airport since 2009. The growth in passenger numbers reflects the growing popularity of Shannon Airport’s services.
Christmas themed entertainment with performers from schools in Shannon, Limerick and Tipperary have been in the arrivals hall all week.
Students from St John’s NS in Shannon, St Senan’s NS in Shannon, Thomond primary school from Ballynanty and Nenagh’s Chloe Griffin were all giving renditions of festive tunes in Shannon Airport.
Principal of St John’s NS, Kevin Toomey told The Clare Echo, “We were delighted to be invited back up again by Shannon Airport, they are so supportive of all the local schools and it is the highlights of the kids’ year in the lead up to Christmas, the kids had a massive amount of preparation for the Christmas carols this year along with the really hard-work of their teachers and SNAs, they were really excited and had a fantastic day, they were so well-looked after by Shannon Airport, we’re really looking forward to next year again.
“It is very poignant because we have children from 21 nationalities in our pupil base of 64, they are very au fait with Airports, dropping off and picking up relatives and travelling themselves, they understand how special it is to be up there for this time of year when Irish people and people from abroad are coming home to their friends and relatives,” Mr Toomey added.
Niall Kearns, Airport Director told The Clare Echo, “It is a particularly special time to be working in Shannon Airport, seeing loved ones reuniting as well as people in jolly spirits heading off on a Christmas getaway. The airport is a hive of festivity this week with musical performers here each day to greet arrivals”.
Shannon Gospel Choir will give a special performance from 11:20am to 12:45pm. In addition to the captivating performances, Shannon Airport staff are dedicated to providing a warm welcome to the 121,000 passengers arriving from around the world during the Christmas season. The halls have been decked and the airport terminal adorned with festive decorations, including a magnificent 12-foot tree in the arrivals hall and a life-size Santa sleigh for memorable photo opportunities.
