Shannon stopover

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Shannon stopover was an important stopover in Ireland, in the early days of transatlantic travel. Prior to World War II, PanAm used a site near Shannon for a refueling/crew stop, due to the limited range of aircraft at that time. The area on the west coast of Ireland around Limerick is about the westernmost point in Europe. As conventional prop and early jet aircraft needed a refueling stop, the Irish government established the airport at Shannon. Long after most flights to/from Europe didn't need the refueling stop, the Irish government kept the Shannon stop requirement to keep the airport financially viable and providing badly needed employment. Shannon is still used as a refueling stop for some flights and aircraft (including US military charters from the Middle East/Iraq), and as an important emergency diversion airport. It used to be extensively utilized by the Soviet Aeroflot Airlines as one of the two refuelling stops enroute to destinations in the Americas (the other being at Gander), since the domestic Il-86 aircraft used on transatlantic routes for its capacity did not have sufficient range to cross the ocean non-stop.

As a condition of the operation, any airline operating flights between the USA and Ireland must have at least 50% of their flights make a stop at Shannon Airport; many of these flights continue on to or depart from Dublin Airport. This arrangement is to cease in 2007. It is thought that this will allow more transatlantic flights from Dublin (to new destinations), as well as starting them from Cork. However, it is feared that this will reduce air traffic at Shannon overall.