Shannon Airport hopes to escape limbo as specialist aviation centre
2012 04 05
- Details
HISTORIC Shannon Airport, near Limerick in the west of Ireland, where the duty free shop and Irish Coffee were born when the first transatlantic commercial flights arrived gasping for fuel, now hopes to escape limbo as a specialist aviation centre, reports Dublin's Irish Times.
Irish Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said the proposal would seek to attract new industries "that don't exist in Europe, such as aircraft refitting and aircraft recycling".
Speaking at a Shannon Chamber of Commerce, Mr Varadkar said: "It is my intention to do something very exciting and very innovative for Shannon that will recapture that early spirit that was there with the pioneers of aviation in this region.
"The model we are most likely to propose for Shannon is the development of an international aviation-based services centre for the region based around Shannon airport and the lands around Shannon," he said.
Now independent from the Dublin Airport Authority, Mr Varadkar said he will propose to government that a tax-incentivised international financial services centre-type model for the aviation industry be established at Shannon.
"My personal preference for Shannon is to end the current half-way house that isn't working and give Shannon the tools it needs to turn the situation around to get passengers, employment and investment up," Mr Varadkar said.
On Shannon's estimated EUR100 million (US$1.33 million) debt, Mr Varadkar said: "It is obvious that if Shannon is to succeed it won't be able if it starts off with a debt of EUR100 million, and doesn't have working capital to invest and absorb losses in the initial years if there are losses."
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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