New airbridges for Shannon Airport as part of €10m investment

SHANNON AIRPORT is continuing to rise with three new airbridges forming part of a €10 million series of investments.

Shannon Group is installing three new airbridges at Shannon Airport at a cost of a €1.8 million, as part of its latest suite of airport enhancement projects.

The installation of three 60 tonne airbridges form phase one will see the airport’s six airbridges replaced over the next three years. 

 Mary Considine, CEO of Shannon Group, said Shannon Group is focused on future proofing airport infrastructure.

"This latest airbridge programme forms part of our investment strategy across the Shannon Airport campus," she said.

Airbridges are used to board passengers directly from the airport terminal building on to aircraft without exposing passengers and crew to the elements.

The first of the three airbridges has just been installed at the airport and took over two days, using multiple cranes to fit it to the terminal building. The airbridge is capable of accommodating over 22 types of large aircraft, excluding some smaller regional jets.  

Passenger numbers at Shannon Airport to exceed 40,000 this weekend

Over the past 12 months, Shannon Group has been busy upgrading the airport experience, and enhancing infrastructure. 

Projects completed with support from the Department of Transport under the Regional Airports Programme, include a €2.5 million state-of-the-art  security screening system which is halving the dwell time for passengers through security and eliminating the need to remove liquids and electronics, and €5.3 million on airfield rehabilitation works. 

The newly installed airbridge, manufactured by CIMC-Tianda Airport Support in China, arrived at Shannon Airport after a long journey halfway across the globe from Shenzhen.  

A further two airbridges will be replaced later this year, and in early 2023, with plans to replace the remaining three airbridges during phase two of the project at a later stage.