Cllr Frankie Keena

Minister Noel Dempsey and Secretary Michael Chertoff sign major Inter Governmental Agreement on full US Pre-Clearance facilities for Shannon and Dublin Airports

 

• New Agreement has the potential to create thousands of jobs in Ireland
• New Agreement opens up all US airports (domestic/international) for US bound passengers from Irish airports 
• Dempsey to meet with Trans Atlantic airlines in US to discuss how this Agreement could make Ireland a hub for US bound passengers in Europe
  

17 November 2008
Washington D.C.

In Washington D.C today, the Minister for Transport Mr Noel Dempsey T.D. and the US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff signed a major Inter-Governmental Agreement. This will provide for pre-clearance for scheduled and charter commercial airline flights to the US from Shannon and Dublin airports. It will also allow pre-clearance for private aircraft flights to the U.S from Shannon airport.

Speaking in Washington today at the signing ceremony; Minister Dempsey said;  “This Inter-Governmental Agreement with the United States will have major benefits for Ireland. The potential of Ireland to grow trans-atlantic services from its airports is now very significant. In the current difficult economic conditions trans-atlantic business is more important than ever for Ireland.”

Minister Dempsey added; “Passengers from Shannon and Dublin airports will benefit from uninterrupted passage through US airports on arrival, saving time and hassle.
Trans-atlantic airlines will benefit from being able to fly into less congested and less expensive domestic terminals on arrival at U.S airports. This should lead to easier access to aircraft stands thereby minimising the time between touchdown and passengers disembarking. In the competitive field of aviation, time means money for airline operators. This Agreement will help operators save valuable time.”

Minister Dempsey added; “Later this week I will meet with some trans Atlantic airline operators here in the US to explain the benefits of operating out of Irish airports now that this Agreement is in place.”

 

What are the Benefits of Pre-Clearance?

For passengers the benefits are:
It will save time and potentially save money.

• Shannon and Dublin are the only European airports that will have full pre clearance facilities on offer to passengers.
• The U.S. currently has no plans to introduce pre-clearance elsewhere in Europe.
• Once the new pre-clearance facilities are in place US bound passengers out of Shannon and Dublin airports will have uninterrupted passage through US airports on arrival.
• All customs, US immigration and agriculture clearance will now be completed before passengers leave Ireland. (Currently only US immigration clearance facilities are available at both airports).
• This will save time and hassle.
• Flights from Shannon and Dublin airports will be treated like domestic flights in the US. Passengers will have no need to undergo further time consuming checks in any US airport (unlike passengers arriving in the US from any other  European state).
• Passengers will now be able to check their baggage through from Shannon and Dublin to their final destination in the US even if this involves two flights with different airlines. (Up to now Irish passengers connecting in the US have had to collect their baggage, clear customs and then recheck their luggage onto their connecting flight in the US.)
• Domestic airports are generally cheaper for airlines to use and this should be reflected in the ticket price – meaning potentially cheaper flights for customers.
• Domestic airports/terminals are in general less congested than international airports/terminals and thus offer a more pleasant travelling experience for passengers.

For airlines the benefits are:
Faster aircraft turnaround and that will save them money.

• Transatlantic Airlines using Shannon and Dublin will now be able to fly into less congested and less expensive domestic terminals on arrival at U.S airports. This should lead to easier access to aircraft stands thereby minimising the time between touchdown and passengers existing the aircraft.
• Airlines will now also be able to offer passengers easily accessible onward connections (passengers will appreciate being able to check their bags through to their final destination).

• Shannon will be the first airport in Ireland to offer full pre clearance facilities. This will give the airport authority a unique selling point in its marketing campaigns to attract new airlines to service the airport.
• The introduction of pre-clearance will be particularly useful in the efforts of Shannon Airport to retain and promote transatlantic services.
  
  Note: Already British Airways has announced that it is considering a business class only service from London City Airport to the U.S. with a stopover at Shannon, precisely for the purpose of taking advantage of the pre-clearance services there when these are operational. Other airlines may well follow the BA example and similarly route U.S. bound flights through Shannon.
• Pre-clearance will provide the opportunity to promote the Mid West region for high worth tourism from the U.S. with the strong selling point that on the return leg all U.S. clearance requirements would be dealt with before departure (i.e. no queues in US airports if you depart from Shannon or Dublin).
• Pre-clearance has the potential to open up other economic benefits for the Shannon region particularly for firms dependent on the US market.

For airlines the benefits are:

Faster aircraft turnaround and that will save them money.

For Shannon Airport and the Mid West Region the benefits are:

Private aircraft

• Pre-clearance is also being introduced at Shannon for private U.S. bound aircraft.  Again Shannon will be the only airport in Europe to offer this service to private aircraft owners.
• Similar to the interest shown by commercial aviation Shannon can expect a significant increase in private aircraft routing through Shannon to take advantage of pre-clearance.

For Dublin Airport the benefits are:

• For the same reasons as Shannon, there is likely to be a very significant positive benefit for Dublin Airport and the surrounding region when pre-clearance is introduced there in conjunction with the opening of the second terminal in 2010.
• Closer to that date we can expect the sort of interest, currently being experienced by Shannon from airlines wishing to use Dublin as a hub for pre-clearance purposes.