Can reality intrude here for a moment? Shannon isn't going to become an international passenger hub.
The reality is that the pre-clearance facility presents some unique opportunities for SNN that shouldn't be overlooked. The potential to develop the airport as a low-cost transatlantic hub should be explored IMO.
The facility will enable airlines to fly into cheaper, secondary airports in the US and whilst the population of the SNN catchment area itself isn't large enough to sustain multiple services linking SNN with these airports, if passengers from Europe could be fed into SNN to connect to these flights, it could work. Fares would have to be significantly lower than the alternative options via LHR, CDG etc to encourage passengers to put up with the inconvenience of flying into a secondary airport of course. It goes without saying that no passenger will choose a less convenient option unless the price difference involved is significant.
Whether costs could be kept to a level which would ensure the profitability of the operation is debatable, since the airline would have to incur the added costs associated with offering connections. Nevertheless, I do think the idea should be explored.
flying aircraft that ought to be parked in the desert by now.
Why? If the carriers in question are happy to continue operating the old birds, why should they be parked up in the desert?
I think the SAA should get FR to try snn-Mars and, no, I do not mean Marseilles but MARS, the red planet! It might be a way around the Euro 10 travel tax!?
Mars is outside the 300km radius rule so there's no avoiding the tax unfortunately. Nice try though
