The Minister for Transport, Mr Noel Dempsey T.D. today (28 January 2010) announced the opening up of Shannon Airport for preclearance for U.S. bound private aircraft. This follows on from the introduction of commercial preclearance at Shannon which has been operating very successfully since August 2009. Minister Dempsey said;
‘Following negotiations at official level between the Irish and U.S. administrations and having raised the matter personally with the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Ms Janet Napolitano I am delighted to be able to announce today that the way is now cleared for the introduction of preclearance for private aircraft at Shannon in the coming weeks.’
Preclearance for commercial flights to the U.S. from Shannon was introduced on 5 August last and has proven to be very successful for the airlines that are utilising it. Essentially preclearance means that U.S. bound passengers clear all U.S. entry controls before boarding the aircraft, thus ensuring that on arrival there is no further official processing and passengers are treated as if they had arrived from a U.S. domestic airport. Minister Dempsey went on to say;
‘I see the extension of preclearance at Shannon to private aircraft as a very positive development for Shannon Airport and for the Mid-West region in general. Because of its location, a significant number of U.S. bound private aircraft already use Shannon for refuelling. I am confident that with this development there will be a significant increase in these numbers in order to take advantage for preclearance.’
The Minister paid tribute to the U.S. Ambassador for his help in clearing the way for the introduction of preclearance for private aircraft.
‘I want to say a particular word of thanks to Ambassador Rooney for his interest in preclearance and for his role in ensuring that today’s announcement has been possible.’
Hope this helps. Rich