Irish Airports to Offer US Pre-Clearance Facilities

At last, some bone-fide good news, for Irish airports and travelers to the US.

A report in this morning's Irish Times says that "Dublin and Shannon airports are set to become the first airports outside the Americas to offer full pre-clearance facilities to passengers travelling to the US, thereby boosting their potential as transatlantic hubs and speeding up travel times."

The piece goes on to say: "Both airports already offer immigration clearance but the new agreement will add customs and agriculture clearance on Irish soil for US-bound travellers. This means airlines will be able to fly from Dublin and Shannon to less congested and less expensive domestic terminals in the US. Passengers will be able to check their baggage through to their final destination even if this involves two flights with different airlines."

This will get around the current ludicrous situation where, even when you've booked a through flight to a US destination, you have to collect and identify your baggage once you land on US soil and then put it back on a separate carousel for its onward flight (and depending on who you're flying with, practically a guarantee that you're baggage and you don't arrive at the same time and at the same airport). You are also obliged to wait at huge queues to clear customs in the US even though you've already cleared immigration in Ireland.

Also: "Airlines will also be able to fly direct to smaller and less expensive domestic airports in the US, an option that may prove attractive to budget carriers hoping to enter the transatlantic market. Smaller private jets are likely to combine a refuelling stop in Shannon with pre-clearance."

The news should be a huge shot in the arm to Shannon in particular, which is still reeling from Michael O'Leary's insistence that the governments recently announced €10 departure tax would mean the demise of the airport completely. O'Leary has threatened to reduce the number of planes based in the Clare airport from four to one if the government doesn't renege on its plans to issue a flat €10 departure tax on anyone flying more than 300km out of an Irish airport. Ryanair currently accounts for 60% of all traffic to Shannon. 

It is likely that carriers flying from Europe and the UK will take the option of using Shannon, in particular, as a pre-clearance stopover, before flying to the US as if they were on a domestic US flight. It still sounds a little convoluted, but take it from one who's flown to the US a bit, it's a lot better than the mayhem you generally encounter when you land at major airports in the US at the moment.

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Ryanair Flight Scare

Ryanair has suffered its second flight scare in less than a month as a Stansted bound plane was forced to return to Dublin airport after its tailskid touched the runway on takeoff.

The first scare occurred last month on a Bristol to Barcelona flight when a loss in cabin pressure forced an emergency landing in Limoges. 16 people were brought to hospital and there were claims that the oxygen system didn't work properly. The claims were fiercely denied by Ryanair's Michael O'Leary. Full details of the first incident can be found here. 

This latest incident could prove very embarassing, and potentially expensive, for the airline. O'Leary admits that the one thing the airline could never recover from is a poor safety record. Following many years with no reported incidents the last two occurrences happening in such close proximity may make passengers wary of the airline. This is a perception that no low fares airline can afford to carry, as it is only as safe as public perception deems it to be. 

This last scare must have been bad, apparently Ryanair offered 'free' refreshments to the passengers from the flight when they returned to Dublin airport. What is the world coming to?

The story on the latest scare can be found from BreakingNews.ie here and there is a slightly more in-depth report from RTE here. 

Airport Report - Delhi

I suppose you could write a book complaining about airports, and those of us who fly from Dublin regularly would rate it very high in the complaints department. In its defence, I have to say I've been through far worse airports, but it could certainly be a lot better.

If you want to experience a truly awful airport my suggestion is to take a flight to Delhi. We in Ireland have absolutely no concept of dealing with 'huge crowds', but the Indians can do these like no-one else (apart from the Chinese). Delhi airport is a truly heaving mass of humans all struggling to get through the chaos to which poor planning and the Indian army subject its users. Even at 1am in the morning we were subjected to an hour and a half queuing to get through passport control, only to discover that there is just one duty free shop in the airport, and it is before you get to passport control. There is absolutely nothing on the other side, you're lucky to have access to a toilet (and a pretty stomach churning one at that).

It's enough to make you feel that Dublin airport isn't so bad after all, and that takes some doing.

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