History of Shannon Airport

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Shannon Airport is Ireland’s second busiest airport and has long served as an important transatlantic gateway, linking Europe and North America. In 1935 the Irish government began searching for a suitable site to build an airport for transatlantic flights. A number of areas along the west coast of Ireland were considered before Shannon was chosen.

This decision was backed by Colonel Charles E Lindbergh who flew over the site and examined it on foot. Although a serviceable airport was completed by 1942, World War II delayed the development of Shannon as a commercial airport and it wasn’t until October 1945 that the first scheduled commercial flight landed at Shannon.

By the end of the year, Shannon Airport was receiving scheduled aircraft from American Overseas Airlines (AOA), Trans World Airways (TWA) and Pan American Airways (Pan AM). The number of international carriers using Shannon rose sharply in the following years as the airport became well-known for providing the gateway between Europe and America.

The aircraft of the time were limited in the distance they could travel before refuelling so Shannon was increasingly used as a refuelling point for transatlantic flights. Most of the airport’s income derived from providing fuel, food and accommodation for these aircraft and their passengers.

Shannon Airport is also well known for opening the first Duty Free airport shop in the world where passengers could make direct purchases of alcohol and tobacco at tax free prices on a restricted basis.

Over the years, physical development at Shannon has been a continual process of adjusting to the latest aviation technology. Runways which had been adequate to cope with the propeller aircraft of the late forties and fifties had to be lengthened to cater for jet-age aircraft.

It has continued to develop through the years and is now a modern international airport with a new terminal and all the facilities the modern day traveller requires.