Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe is calling on the Government to broaden the criteria for access to the Regional Airports Programme to ensure that Ireland’s regional airports, including Shannon Airport, have access to assured annual funding.
The Regional Airport Programme supports Ireland’s smallest regional airports which provide scheduled passenger services and handle fewer than one million passengers per annum. The programme, which has a budget of €18 million this year, supports vital safety, security and sustainability operations and activities at airports such as Kerry, Ireland West and Donegal.
The Programme for Government commits to continuing to invest in the Regional Airports Programme and to develop a new Regional Airports Programme from 2026 – 2030. Deputy Crowe believes this revised programme should contain enhanced passenger footfall to include other airports like Shannon Airport.
According to Deputy Crowe: “The Regional Airports Programme has provided a vital funding stream for Shannon Airport in recent years.
“Access to the Regional Airports scheme is determined by the number of passengers that an airport has each year. For many years, the passenger flow through Shannon was too high to access this funding but during the Covid years, there was a sharp decline in those using the airport due to travel restrictions and this meant that Shannon automatically became eligible for funding.
“With that funding, Shannon was able to revamp its airport infrastructure and in particular invest it in baggage screening facilities, features which have made the airport safer and more efficient for passengers.
“I have raised the need to increase the passenger threshold in the Dáil and the Taoiseach has directly responded. The matter will now be considered by the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien.
“Raising the passenger figure would ensure that there isn’t annual uncertainty for Shannon and other airports in the West of Ireland. It would make an annual funding stream more certain for them and with that they could plan for multi-annual improvements in their airports.”