Shannon Airport has been Highly Commended award in the Airport Under 4 million Passengers category at the World Routes Awards for airport marketing in Las Vegas. The award is in recognition of the outstanding success of the airport’s marketing programme since separation from the DAA and its success in kick-starting the recovery in passenger numbers at Shannon this year after four years of successive decline. 
Shannon beat off stiff competition from airports around the world to be shortlisted for the global award, with only Northern Territories Airport in Australia scoring higher than it in the voting.
No other Irish or UK airport made the shortlist for the awards, which are the most prestigious in the aviation industry given that they are voted for and judged by airlines. The airlines consider airports and destinations whose marketing efforts over the last 12 months have made a real impact on their future network development plans.
Neil Pakey, Shannon Airport Chief Executive, said that the importance of the win goes beyond just the prestige of winning the awards themselves. “This is a huge result for Shannon Airport as not only is it a great honour to be among the chosen few airports globally this year to be Highly Commended but it shows just how highly Shannon is now rated by airlines.
“Today we have some of the world’s leading news agencies and corporations around the world reporting on Shannon’s success and how it has managed to grow passengers in its first year of separation. That is promotion we could not buy. Even when he presented the award, BBC news correspondent Aaron Haslehurst remarked that after a period of decline, Shannon has experienced a sharp recovery in recent months with dramatic growth. That message has gone out right across the aviation industry.”
Declan Power, Shannon Airport Head of Aviation Development, said: “The fact that it is airlines who decide these prestigious awards proves that Shannon Airport is now very much back on their radar after a number of difficult years. This is a real sign of progress as airlines are clearly now sitting up and taking notice of Shannon and we intend to capitalise on this by securing new routes.”
The awards process provides the airline community with the chance to have their say as to which airport they think provides the best overall marketing services to them, with criteria examined including development of relationships with airlines, effective results, provision of data and information or innovative techniques to establish new or maintain and develop existing routes.
These much sought after awards are seen as an outstanding opportunity for the winning airports and destinations to gain additional credible global recognition that they can proudly talk about to their customers and other stakeholders.
