In 2010 there was a volcanic eruption in Iceland that impacted not only Iceland but also much of Europe. The ash cloud blasted out by the volcano caused air travel to cease in Europe. Such a shutdown had not been seen since World War II. For about eight days in April travelers were stranded world-wide. Obviously, Europe was impacted directly but the world was impacted indirectly as people could not travel into or out of Europe by air. One notable entertainment instance of the impact is the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The WWE had a number of professional wrestlers performing in Ireland when the ash cloud stopped all flights. These WWE performers could not leave Ireland and could not make a scheduled taping of their show back in the United States.

At the Shannon Airport service was intermittently closed and opened, but saw extended periods of closure. Most of the time during the Shannon Airport and volcanic ash situation, the open periods were only for domestic travel or to receive arriving traffic. Nonetheless, many were stranded in Ireland and abroad. To its credit the Irish Aviation Authority did all it could to try and open the airport, but the dangers inherit in the volcanic ash made caution a necessity.

The Shannon Airport car park did offer a refund for those who had to use the service during the shut-down. Those who had vehicles parked and could not return back for them, but were charged for the extra time while in the airport car park were given a refund opportunity. The unintended portion of the stay was eligible for the refund.

Shannon Airport is the third busiest airport in Ireland, and is one of the major airports alongside Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. Shannon Airport is, of course, located in Shannon and serves Limerick and the western side of Ireland. Airlines that operate from Shannon Airport include Aer Lingus, Air Transat, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Edelweiss Air, Iberworld, Monarch Airlines, Niki, Onur Air, Ryanair, Thomson Airways, and Travel Service. There are also a wide range of destinations offered (some only seasonal) including Boston, Dublin, Heathrow, New York, Birmingham (UK), Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and various places in the South of France.

The Park Inn at Shannon Airport is mere minutes away from the airport and is the perfect choice for those who have an early flight the next day, as they can stop over at the Inn and be fresh for the airport, instead of getting up at a stupid time that morning and driving from home. Alternatively, for those who want to rest after a long or late flight it can be refreshing to simply step outside the airport and find oneself in a pleasant environment ready to relax for the night before continuing with a journey. Should you wish, local attractions can be explored from the Park Inn Shannon Airport including Bunratty Castle, Folk Park, Ballycasey Craft and the Design Center. The town of Limerick also makes an excellent place to look around as a taste of true Ireland. Finally, an important feature of this hotel is that flight departure and arrival times are shown on TV screens in the hotel meaning that you can see exactly what is going on with your flight – if it’s delayed you can have a few extra hours relaxing without having to leave the hotel to find out what’s happening!

When you fly over to a country like Ireland it is very likely that you will need to stop overnight in a hotel. Not many are blessed with a family living in the country of their destination who are able to take you in for the night so it is very difficult to know where to go. There is also the issue as to whether to travel during the day or during the night. Obviously, if you are travelling during the night you are going to arrive at Shannon airport in the morning so have the whole day to find a place to stay; no matter how tired you are, the presence of sunlight has amazing rejuvenation effects on your body. Travelling during the day, however, is a whole different kettle of fish. You will arrive at Shannon airport in darkness and will immediately feel lethargic; as is the case when darkness falls. The last thing you want to do after that is go and drive to another destination as it will go horribly wrong and you will arrive absolutely shattered. Instead of giving yourself such an arduous task of driving to your destination straight away, take the time to stop at a hotel close to the airport and have a good rest before setting off to discover the rest of Ireland.

There are numerous hotels that you can stay in and all of them are good for stopping overnight in. It will set you up for your holiday much better than trying to go immediately.

When you fly anywhere there is always the problem of how you intend to transport yourself around the country. Unlike taking a ferry or the train, there aren’t facilities available to fly your own car out to your destination. Going to continental Europe doesn’t cause any problems because there are frequent ferries and trains that allow you to go whenever you want with your car. Going to Ireland, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Whilst there are ferries to the country they are relatively infrequent and, quite frankly, not the nicest of journeys (the Irish sea is notoriously temperamental). Similarly, unlike the Channel Tunnel, there is no train service that will take you into Ireland, meaning that, no matter how else you intend to get there, you are unlikely to have a car with you. Of course, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that you use public transport upon arrival, but why limit yourself to train and bus routes? You can’t hope to get the most out of a holiday if you are restricted to certain areas because of transport difficulties.

Instead, avoid all this by hiring a car when you arrive at Shannon Airport. The service is incredibly quick and cheap and there are always offers to be found if you book online. With very little queuing you can have the keys to your car within minutes and be on the road discovering what Ireland has to offer. Hiring a car is a sure way to enhance your holiday!

When Shannon Airport was first constructed in the 1930s it was originally designed as a sea airport; flying boats as opposed to aeroplanes. However, although it was soon decided that the airport would need a runway it didn’t really grow as an airport until the 1980s when things finally started to be set in motion. The 1980s saw a number of new airlines arrive at Shannon. Aer Rianta and the Soviet airline, Aeroflot, had signed an agreement and by 1980 Aeroflot had established a fuel farm at Shannon. The fuel farm was to hold Soviet fuel and soon Aeroflot planes were stopping off at Shannon to fuel up to continue onto destinations in South, Central, and North America. The number of Aeroflot flights went from 240 aircraft in 1980, to 2000 aircraft by 1991. In 1989, US carrier Delta Air Lines launched flights from Shannon and Dublin to Atlanta and New York-JFK.

During the 1990s the airport began to struggle. The bilateral agreement with the United States was renegotiated resulting in fewer planes required to stopover in Shannon (See Shannon Stopover below). However, 1996 saw the beginning of Continental Airlines flying between Dublin, Shannon and Newark, New Jersey. However, Shannon began to rebound in the late 1990s with the success of the Irish economy, the improving situation in Northern Ireland, and an influx of American tourists. By the end of the decade Shannon had passenger numbers of 2.2 million and in the year 2000, a new

Shannon Airport is one of the three main airports within Ireland along with Dublin and Cork Airports. The airport is a key hub for transport to and from the United States of America. Flights from the airport travel to a variety of destinations, with a variety of different providers form budget to luxury. Shannon Airport is the only airport in Europe with full customs and agriculture inspections for US travel, eliminating the need for transatlantic travellers to go through such security measures again upon arrival in the US. This makes it a very attractive airport for passengers travelling to the US to fly from. Resulting from the US clearance checks, a twice-daily British Airways flight takes business passengers from City Airport London to JFK in New York, stopping at Shannon Airport for extra fuel whilst passengers go through security checks, before carrying on to New York.

The main airlines and destinations operating at Shannon Airport are Aer Lingus, flying to Boston, Dublin, London-Heathrow and JFK, Air Mediterranee, flying to a very wide set of locations within France, from Paris to Marseille, and Iberworld, flying to Lanzarote and Mallorca. There is, of course, a very large service offered by Ryanair from here, with flights travelling to Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Malaga, Nantes, Mallorca, Paris and Tenerife. Many other airlines operate to a few niche locations. It is important to note that these destinations are not available every day of the year; many are seasonal, especially regarding the warmer destinations which are mainly available in the warmer months of the year.

Imagine that you have just flown into Ireland. You will probably be tired and almost certainly just want to get yourself to the hotel for a well deserved sleep. Travelling is an incredibly tiring thing to do and after a potentially long flight from the USA or from mainland Europe, the last thing that you want to be doing is hanging around anywhere except the hotel that you will be staying in. Because of this, the likelihood is that you will want to find the quickest and the easiest way to get to the hotel after you land, and this means that there really is only one option – to hire a car.

Of course, you would be able to use public transport but, let’s face it, after you’ve just landed in a country that you are unlikely to have ever visited before, the last thing you want to be doing is leaping on a train or bus which will take you close to the hotel, from which you will have to walk with your heavy bag to the hotel – what’s the point? You can just hire a car instead and completely cut out the middle man. You will be able to drive directly to the hotel without any fuss and be in bed before you know it. The service is incredibly quick and easy to use and the staff are always on hand to help. Why make things tough for yourself when there really isn’t any need to do so?

There aren’t a tremendous number of airports in Ireland – being a relatively small country there isn’t enough space for there to be airports everywhere; and in any case there is no need for loads of airports because they are only a short drive away. However, that is the case if you are living in the more densely populated east of Ireland; Dublin has an airport that is within easy access for many people living on the eastern side of the country and is more than enough use for anyone looking to fly to Europe or America. However, for people living on the western side of Ireland this is of little use as the transport infrastructure isn’t fantastic and using Dublin airport would mean either a long drive in the morning or a hotel stay over – something that would push the price of the holiday up.

This, however, isn’t necessary because of Shannon airport. Situated on the west coast close to Limerick, Shannon airport is one of the few large airports in the western side of Ireland and offers a comprehensive flight service that can take you almost wherever you want to go. Budget airlines such as Ryanair fly out to cities like Paris and Palma and Aerlingus fly out to the USA, with flights going to Boston and New York almost daily. It is also possible to fly to mainland Britain with regular flights to all the London airports and Liverpool – the people in the west are able to go on holiday anywhere they want to!

When you arrive at an airport, the last thing you want to be doing is waiting around with nothing to do. If you’ve just had a long journey and are thinking about getting a taxi somewhere, or hiring a car, it’s likely that there may be a short wait whilst all the paperwork is getting sorted out, and this is something that can be torture; particularly if you have kids who are very agitated after a long trip and wanting to let off some energy. It is therefore essential that any airport arrivals area has an assortment of places that you can stretch your legs in.

If, for example, you want to buy some last minute supplies; perhaps you’ve forgotten a toothbrush or you want to buy some snacks to fill your stomach after the unsatisfying in-flight meal and need somewhere close to be able to rectify the problem. There is an assortment of shops within the arrivals area that are well stocked and able to supply you with anything you so desire. After a long meal it is very likely that you are going to want to find something to eat and Shannon airport is able to provide just that. With an assortment of restaurants serving anything from sandwiches to full three course meals you are very unlikely to go hungry. The food is all reasonably priced too and accept a range of currencies, just in case you haven’t had chance to visit the bank to get some out.