*Pictured is Group Procurement Manager, Robert Doyle, The Shannon Airport Group and Airport Search Unit Officers Katie Duggan Hastings and Leah Murphy. Photograph: Stephen O’Malley
OVER 44,000 people are forecast to take off from Shannon Airport across the Halloween Bank Holiday weekend.
Such numbers are the highest experienced at Shannon Airport for the Halloween period since 2008.
Extra flights have been added at Shannon to facilitate the Halloween holiday exodus. Over 200 extra flights have been added during school holidays in October, Christmas, and Easter, made possible thanks to the third Ryanair based aircraft.
Forecasted figures for the Bank Holiday are up by 37 percent at Shannon compared to the same period last year.
European destinations are the firm favourites, with a 60 per cent increase in the number of passengers travelling to an array of city and sun destinations across Europe for the seasonal break when compared to 2022’s Samhain season.
Transatlantic passenger numbers have jumped by 11 per cent and travellers to UK destinations are up by 33 per cent on the same period last year.
Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group said, “Our recovery to date has been consistently strong and we are seeing this with a record-breaking number of passengers expected this Halloween break. Not only are more people travelling this October Bank Holiday when compared to last year, but we are also up by 23 per cent in passenger traffic for the same period in 2019 (pre pandemic).
“This is bolstered by the fact that for our Winter schedule, we have added 200 extra flights throughout the school holidays breaks in October, Christmas and Easter, to accommodate those well-deserved family get aways. Our new service to Paris Charles De Gaulle with Aer Lingus commenced in September, providing more exciting travel options for our passengers”.
Earlier this month Shannon Airport launched its winter schedule to 22 destinations across the UK, Europe and the US, with 188 weekly flights. The schedule officially kicks off this Bank Holiday weekend on the 29th of October and will run until the 30th of March 2024.
