Dublin, Shannon airports to offer US-bound clearance

DUBLIN AND Shannon airports are set to become the first 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.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey yesterday announced an agreement with the US which will see pre-clearance facilities for US-bound passengers introduced in Shannon next summer and in Dublin airport in 2010. The agreement will be signed with US secretary of homeland security Michael Chertoff early next week.

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.

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 potential of the new arrangements was underlined yesterday when British Airways announced that its new business-class service from London City to New York would use Shannon's customs and immigration clearance before arriving in the US. Passengers, who will alight and have their baggage checked in Shannon, will be able to "speed straight through JFK" airport in New York, the airline said.

At present only airports in Canada and the Caribbean offer full US immigration services, according to Shannon Airport Authority (SAA).

Speaking in Shannon, Mr Dempsey said: "This agreement presents Shannon and Dublin airports with a unique opportunity to promote its transatlantic facilities to airlines and passengers around Europe. Ireland now has the potential to become a major hub for transatlantic airlines in Europe."

The Minister said US authorities had said they had no plans to extend pre-clearance elsewhere in Europe: "This should give Ireland a comparative advantage in the highly competitive transatlantic aviation sector."

SAA chairman Pat Shanahan hailed the announcement as a "historic day for Shannon" and predicted the airport would be able to rebuild its business by offering "domestic US flights" to airlines and passengers.