Shannon
Airport
Shannon International Airport (Irish:
Aerfort na Sionainne) (IATA: SNN, ICAO: EINN), is one
of Ireland's primary three airports (along with Dublin
Airport and Cork Airport). It is the second busiest
airport in the Republic of Ireland with 3.62 million
passengers in 2007. The airport is located in Shannon,
County Clare, around 24 km (15 mi) from Ennis and 25
km (16 miles) from Limerick City.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection
Preclearance
United States immigration at Shannon
In 1986 a US Immigration pre-clearance
facility was opened at Shannon, eliminating the need
to go through immigration on arrival in America. In
November 2008, it was announced customs and agriculture
inspections will be added. This will make Shannon the
first airport in Europe to offer this service. This
is expected to be a big incentive to attract airlines
and corporate jets to Shannon. Shannon Airport is spending
€20 million to have these facilites in place for
Summer 2009.
British Airways plans to offer a business
class only flight from London City Airport to JFK Airport
in New York with a stopover in Shannon once this service
is in place. This will allow them to take off from the
short runway of London City Airport which is located
right in downtown London, stop for fuel in Shannon while
passengers go through pre-clearance, and arrive in JFK
without the need to go through immigration or customs.
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