Category: General

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A long-awaited runway extension for Waterford Airport has been approved by An Bord Pleanála.

 

It will allow a 900m runway extension and a widening of the runway, costing at least €12m, which campaigners and business groups hope will attract commercial carriers for the airport as it will allow it to take larger aircraft.

 

In An Bord Pleanála’s approval letter, which has been seen by this website, it said the proposal would have a negible impact on climate and sought a detailed traffic plan from Waterford City and County Council for the works. The development will involve an extension of the existing 1,433-metre-long runway by 491m at its northern end and 363m at its southern end, resulting in a total runway length of 2,287m. It will also be widened by 30m in width to 45m.

 

Fine Gael senator John Cummins, who is a former member of the airport board, said it is a critical piece of infrastructure for the South East region. “It makes the possibility of securing routes for the airport far more likely into the future than what was the case heretofore”, Cummins said.

 

He added: “For too long the runway has been an impediment to the growth of the airport. The types of aircraft that were able to land at the runway were restricted, so the planning application that has been approved will facilitate the landing of the main aircrafts of choice for major airlines.”

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Mary Considine (CEO Shannon Group) has described 2021 as ‘another challenging year,’ but says she is optimistic for the future.

 

Commenting as the group releases its end of year results, Ms Considine said: “Our team at Shannon Group have been unwavering in our focus on recovery and rebuilding to ensure a successful future for our employees, the people and businesses in our region who rely on our Shannon Airport services for their livelihoods. Although it has been another challenging year, having come through the worst of the Pandemic, we are confident that the foundations for recovery are in place”.

 

“With the welcome announcement of the lifting of restrictions, there is real optimism in the air. While it will still take time for the unwinding of Covid restrictions to filter down into the aviation sector, it is a really positive development for industries devastated by the pandemic”, says Ms Considine.

 

Shannon Airport passenger numbers rose 8% in 2021 compared to 2020, with most travel taking place in the latter part of the year following the rollout of the vaccination programme and the introduction of the EU Digital Covid Cert enabling the lifting of restrictions on non-essential air travel from mid-July of last year. Almost 380,000 people used Shannon Airport in 2021, compared to just over 352,000 in 2020. This is however still down 78% on 2019, the last full year of operation before the pandemic.

 

The airport saw a strong recovery in its European and UK services in 2021. European passenger numbers from Shannon recovered to 65% of 2019 levels, and the UK market to 43% of 2019 levels. Both markets saw a fivefold increase in passengers between August and November 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020. 

 

“This summer we will operate services to 25 destinations with 107 planned weekly frequencies. The return of Transatlantic services to Boston, New York (JFK) and Newark from Shannon in March, combined with our strong European summer flight schedule and the return to full strength of our Heathrow services, are reasons to be optimistic”, says Ms Considine.

 

Commenting on future support for the airport Ms Considine said: “We are very grateful for the Government supports announced during the year, and given the enormous task ahead, our airport will continue to need these supports as we rebuild our business in the aftermath of Covid”.

Significant progress was made during the year on the transfer of the Group’s heritage sites to the relevant local authorities. The transfer of these activities will assist Shannon Group to focus on the recovery of the airport, build back international passengers, while continuing to develop its aviation cluster and associated property activities. Visitor numbers to the heritage sites continued to be impacted by the pandemic recording a drop of almost 50% since 2019 when the sites had 963,000 visitors. However, there was some recovery in 2021 with almost 496,000 visitors recorded, up from just over 300,000 visitors recorded in 2020.

 

The Group’s property development activities across the Shannon campus remained strong in 2021.

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No better way to start a new year than with recognition in the form of a prestigious award from Enterprise Ireland. Travelbiz has been awarded Best Travel Industry Trade News Publication 2022 at the Irish Enterprise Awards!

 

The award was judged on merits with assessment centred around an extensive evaluation of skills and services on offer to the industry. Final judgement was cast following a review of expertise within a given field/specialism, dedication to customer service and an ongoing commitment to excellence and innovation.

 

To achieve this award, given what we have all been through over the past two years, endorses all the trade support initiatives and endless work that the Travelbiz team have done to keep you, our readers, followers and subscribers, motivated and updated on all that we do during a time we shall never forget. A huge thankyou to Jim, Jacinta and Declan and our technical support team for all of your hard work. People make brands and that is what we are all about at Travelbiz. Our reach equates to supporting, informing and keeping you updated on all the latest buzz in our industry.

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The Cork International Hotel has relaunched the very popular package called ‘Stay, Park and Fly”. The package is intended to take the stress out of early morning or late evening traveling from Cork Airport. The package will also allow travellers to extend their holiday by an extra day or so by treating themselves to a hotel stay as part of their trip.

 

The package offers an overnight stay before or after a flight with parking included during the trip from Cork Airport.

 

This Offer includes:

• An overnight stay before or after a flight
• Free shuttle bus to and from Cork Airport before and after a flight
• Parking included in a secure car park for the duration of a trip from two nights up to 21 days (depending on the package selected)
• Includes Grab and Go Breakfast from 4.30am-7am for earlier departures

 

Carmel Lonergan (General Manager Cork International Hotel) said: “Holidays are definitely on the minds of people right now and this package is perfect for anyone who would like to extend their trip a little bit. This offer has options to suit all travellers, from short weekend breaks to longer two week holidays. This is the perfect package for guests with either an early flight from Cork and they can stay with us the night before or late-night flight return where they can rest up and stay with us before driving home”.

 

See more details HERE.

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Passengers flying through Dublin Airport down 74% when compared with pre-COVID-19 levels in 2019.

 

Dublin Airport has released its traffic figures for 2021 which reveal that passenger numbers at the airport increased by 14% to 8.46 million, when compared with 2020.  However, 2021 passenger numbers were down by 74% when compared to numbers in 2019 as COVID-19 continued to have a massive impact on aviation globally.

 

Two thirds of all passengers (66%) who travelled through Dublin Airport in 2021 did so in the months of August, September, October and November which equates to 5.6 million passengers.  In total, 8.3 million passengers either started or ended their journey through Dublin Airport while 155,000 of the overall number used the airport as a transfer hub last year.

 

When compared to 2020 figures, short-haul traffic increased by 17% to 7.5 million, while long-haul passenger numbers decreased by 1% to almost one million. However, this is a decrease of -83% when compared to with pre COVID-19 passengers for long haul and -73% for short haul in 2019.

 

During 2021, passenger numbers to and from Continental Europe increased on 2020 levels by 33% to 5.3 million. The number of passengers travelling to and from Dublin Airport and Britain decreased by -10% while transatlantic traffic increased by 5% compared to 2020. When compared to pre COVID-19 numbers in 2019, traffic to and from Continental Europe was down by 69%, while passengers travelling from Dublin Airport to and from Britain was down by 79%.

 

Passenger numbers on flights to and from other international destinations, which includes flights to the Middle East, declined by 21% compared with 2020. The number of people taking domestic flights increased 13%. When comparing to pre COVID-19 passenger numbers, other international destinations were down 81%, with domestic travel down by 63% when compared with 2019.

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It is with great pleasure to communicate with you, following a significant rush of bookings during the last quarter of the year, and the outpour of new bookings the past few days, since the relaxing of travel restrictions for UK and European Travellers.

 

This news comes at an ideal time, as we inform you on the most recent renovations at our hotels, all of which are far ahead of schedule, as detailed below:

Constantinou Bros Athena Beach Hotel

An additional 10 Elite Class Superior Swim-up rooms created after the over whelming success and demand following the introduction of this new room type in summer 2021.

 

The creation of an exclusive zone dedicated to adults (over 16 years), comprising of separate pool, sunbathing area and the all-new ‘Adults Cocktail Bar’. 

 

The Zephyr Restaurant will operate exclusively for guests over 16 years of age offering ‘Mediterranean Breakfast’ in the mornings and in the evenings will operate as an A La Carte Restaurant (also offering Table D’hôtel Menu).

 

Constantinou Bros Athena Royal Beach Hotel

The up-to-now ‘Standard’ room category has been renamed to ‘Classic’ room category.

 

All Classic and Elite Class guest rooms have been upgraded with frosted glass window and completely transformed and modernised with walk-in shower, with an added few offering Bathtub which will be available upon request.

 

Carpets in all Classic and Elite Class Superior rooms will be replaced with high quality premium wood-effect flooring.

 

The creation of the all new ‘St Andrews’ Roof-Top Cocktail Bar constructed above the top floor, offering amazing, panoramic views of the Mediterranean and the renowned medieval Paphos Castle, which will operate between May – October, 18:00hrs – 00:00 (midnight) –  at the discretion of the Hotel Management.

 

The Olive Tree Restaurant will be upgraded and in addition to offering light meals during the day, will operate as an A La Carte Restaurant in the evenings (in addition to the Aphrodite A La Carte), offering exquisite Mediterranean A La Carte Dining.

 

We trust that all these changes will be relayed to your colleagues, collaborators and clients, which will all be unveiled and in full operation as scheduled in February 2022

Kind Regards,

Aristos Diomedous

General Manager

CONSTANTINOU BROS HOTELS

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daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports, has confirmed the appointment of  Andrea Carroll as Group Head of Sustainability. She is an accomplished senior sustainability professional who will work across the daa business to lead the transformational change required to allow daa to not only meet but exceed its sustainability commitments.

 

She has a long history of success working in the environmental and climate sector in both private and public sector organisations, having moved to daa from a global sustainability role with Amazon Web Services where she worked on global carbon, climate and biodiversity initiatives. While at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland she developed the Energy Academy – a free online education platform that offers high quality energy efficiency education to thousands of Irish businesses every year.

 

Andrea recently completed her MBA in international business at Griffith College Dublin, holds honours degrees in Geography and Environmental Management from UCD and was Chairperson of Natural Capital Ireland until 2020. 

 

daa’s principal activities include the operation and management of Dublin and Cork airports, global airport retailing through its subsidiary ARI, and international aviation consultancy with daa International. The company is State-owned and headquartered at Dublin Airport.