There were 263 people on board the plane. The plane had just left Irish airspace but the pilot made the decision to return to Shannon Airport due to the behavior of four passengers. Cabin crew alerted the Pilot to the issue and requested an emergency landing.

The authorities at Shannon Airport were called and were ready and waiting to deal with the offenders upon arrival. For safety reasons fuel had to be dumped to ensure a safe landing. After circling Shannon Airport for thirty minutes the plane finally landed at half four.

A German man was taken to Shannon Garda station and charged under Section 2A of the Air Navigation and Transport Act. Statements were taken from all crew members by the authorities. The man was fined just one hundred euro and was then released. The plane took off again after thirty minutes.

Ireland has been rocked by job losses in recent months with over twelve thousand people protesting in Dublin City centre last week. A spokeswoman for the Dublin Airport Authority Siobhan Moore said that it is too early to know whether the strike will go ahead yet. She hoped that the problem would be resolved even if it takes until the last minute.

We offer a low cost Shannon car hire service all year round as well as car hire at Cork Airport and Dublin Airport.

If the strike goes ahead it will most likely lead to the closure of the three airports. Shannon Airport currently deals with about eight thousand passengers a day while Cork deals with nine thousand a day. Dublin is by far the largest catering for about sixty thousand passengers a day.

The previous departure time was 9.30am. Forty five more seats will be available on the new plane. The new plane will be available for use at Shannon Airport in May. The earlier time means that the people in the west of Ireland will now have much better access to connecting flights in Paris.

There are lots of cheap options when it comes to hiring a car at Shannon Airport. If you are staying in Paris for a few days then a car hire Paris service might be worth looking into.

The earlier CityJet service also helps fill some of the gap which was left after Shannon Airport lost the Heathrow route. CityJet feel that filling the extra seats will be possible particularly because of the early take off. The route will be reviewed after six months.

The chief executive of CityJet Geoffrey O’Byrne said that the airline had taken into account the needs of the people in the Shannon region and promised to provide a high quality service for Shannon Airport.

He went on to say the he hoped the people in the local area would now support the initiative despite the current economic difficulties many are facing.

The Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey announced last Friday that he will sign an agreement with the US Government this week. Dempsey believes the deal to be fantastic news for the country as it could see Ireland become a key hub for transatlantic flights.

Pat Shanahan of the Shannon Airport Authority welcomed the news describing it as a historic day for Shannon Airport. He expressed hope that Shannon Airport would thrive with the expected increases in transatlantic flights.

TD Willie O’Dea also welcomed the news describing the news as a watershed and a day when the future of Shannon Airport was secured.

The agreement means that all required inspections can now take place at Shannon Airport rather than in the US. Previous to this only immigration clearance could be given at Irish Airport with agriculture and customs clearance happening in the US.

Pat Shanahan of the Shannon Airport Authority spoke of the huge potential the deal offers with the possibility of extra flights meaning increased landing and handling charges swelling the coffers at Shannon Airport.

After a tough economic year for Shannon Airport this deal could not have come at a better time.

If you need a way of getting around Shannon during your stay then check out our low cost car hire Shannon Airport sevice.

The Shannon fire brigade as well as ambulances from Ennis was called to the scene as a precaution once news broke of the emergency landing. Extra help was also available from the Ennis fire brigade who were stationed at Dromoland on the Ennis-Limerick dual carriageway should their services be called upon.

Authorities at Shannon Airport said “United Airlines flight 952 was flying from Washington to Frankfurt. We were notified of the precautionary technical diversion at 5.30am. The aircraft had 190 passengers onboard and landed safely at 6.13am. Operations at the airport were not affected during the emergency landing”

It is still unclear however as to what the nature of the emergency was with the only official explanation being offered mentioning a “technical issue”. It is thought though unconfirmed that there was smoke in the cockpit of the plane which got into the flight deck.

Safety and fire crews carried out a full evaluation of the plane. A replacement plane was arranged to take the 190 passengers to Frankfurt.

O’Leary predicts that Ryanair passenger numbers at Shannon will be cut from 2 million to just 750,000. He went on to say that Ryanair will just have one aircraft based at Shannon Airport next year compared to the current four.

Less worried it seems are the authorities at Shannon Airport who spoke of an existing 5 year agreement with Ryanair. They say that Ryanair have agreed to raise its passenger numbers to 2 million at Shannon Airport by 2010 and that deal must be honored.

Shannon Airport has had to deal with bad news recently with the closure of the Heathrow route as well as major Aer Lingus staff cuts. They will be determined not to let Ryanair go easily.

O’ Leary blasted the Government for introducing the airline tax and spoke of possibly having to move his tax base in years to come if things get any worse.

It has affected the tourism industry and the ordinary passengers. Heathrow is still a major concern for Shannon. City Jet, which operates daily flights from Shannon to Paris, has helped to cover the loss made by Aer Lingus.

A representative from Shannon Airport said that Ryanair is a significant contributor to their business.

The success of City Jet, begun midwinter but has yet to be proven. They are looking at the possibility of a connection to London Airport in the near future.

Cork Airport may actually be about to challenge Shannon as the countries 2nd busiest airport as Shannon passenger numbers have dropped by 9% since the beginning of 2008. This makes it a possibility that both airports will be neck and neck next to Dublin Airport in passenger numbers by the end of the year.

The budget carrier is still losing money and this could spell disaster for Shannon. A losing Ryanair is bad news for Shannon Airport.  Reports claimed that the airline could lose 60 million Euro by next year.

Ryanair’s management told a committee meeting that Shannon is one of its bases where they are losing a lot of money. They admitted that the company was making a loss at Shannon every year for the last three years. They said that the airline industry is in the midst of an economic storm due to the universal high prices of oil. 

Ryanair is very important for the continual growth of Shannon. The loss of the Aer Lingus Shannon Heathrow route was devastating and is still felt today.  However, these are just “worrying times” and Shannon Airport hopes that Ryanair can work through its current difficulties until a time when the global oil crisis is resolved,

The Irish Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey spoke today of the continuing efforts of the Board at Shannon Airport to find an airline suitable to fill the role vacated by Aer Lingus who cut the route in an attempt to better service Belfast

Shannon Airport Chairman Pat Shanahan has said there has been no official contact with British Airways since a brief telephone call ten days ago and they have yet to receive any firm offers regarding the route. Airport officials also stated that these were “very early days” and “it would be some time before an agreement is reached”

Shannon Airport authority refused to comment on which airlines they were currently in discussion with but given the number of major airlines in the Irish industry it hardly takes rocket science to work out who they might be