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.