Shannon airport is working on plans that it believes will make it the first airport in Europe to offer private aircraft pre-clearance to the United States.

Joe Buckley, cargo and technical traffic development manager, says that U.S. CBP (Customs, Border, Protection) pre-clearance would provide Shannon with the opportunity to become a premier "one stop shop" airport in Europe for trans-Atlantic private and commercial aircraft.

He explains: "Since 9/11 there has been a change in policy that has led to U.S. customs and border protection becoming one entity that covers customs, immigration and agriculture. There are Canadian airports that can provide full clearance but Shannon intends to be the first in Europe to have that facility. We believe that the advantage of arriving in the U.S. with the effective status of a domestic passenger will be very attractive to both private and public service passengers."

Negotiations between the U.S. and Irish governments are at the advanced stage of an agreement in principle. Buckley adds: "We hope the pre-clearance facility will be operating by June or July of 2008 so that Shannon airport can offer a service that will be unique in Europe. We plan a major expansion of the airport that will include enhanced pre-clearance facilities for commercial passengers which we expect will also be extended to corporate jets."

Shannon, he points out, has ample space to expand and advantages in both the delivery and price of fuel. Ships berthed in the adjacent River Shannon pump fuel along pipes to tanks enabling 'hydrant fueling'.

Buckley says: "We have a land bank for development and Shannon has already demonstrated that it is committed to encouraging GA. Other airports lack the space and the desire to encourage growth in corporate aircraft activity but we have both. We have reached master planning stage for GA facilities and we would expect these to translate into prime new FBO facilities within two years."

Companies based at the airport, including Signature and Universal, say they believe there will be a new dedicated FBO facility at Shannon with each prominent handler offering individual facilities. Westair Aviation, which offers hangarage, handling, flight planning and maintenance as well as aircraft management and charter, already offers full FBO facilities.

Buckley says: "Shannon is a very go-ahead airport and we take soundings and listen to all commercial proposals. The bottom line is that there must be a financial return for the airport but we will work with existing and new companies to develop a strong base here for private aviation."

Currently there is one airport authority covering Dublin, Shannon and Cork. But each airport is set to become responsible for developing its own area of operations. Buckley says: "It will increase business levels if corporate traffic can make their tech stop here, fill up with cheap fuel and get pre-clearance for immigration, customs and agriculture for the U.S. Additionally the airport authority has firm plans to encourage the expansion of FBO facilities and there are tremendous golf courses and fishing opportunities here that will encourage leisure breaks and holidays."

Brendan O'Grady, md Universal Aviation at Shannon, welcomes the airport's plans to provide pre-clearance to the United States for business jets as well as commercial aircraft. He says: "A facility to pre-clear the U.S. will encourage a lot of traffic to stop here and, within two years, we can expect to see a substantial increase in the volume of trans-Atlantic business. Shannon is open 24/7/365 but, for business aircraft, is predominantly a 'tech stop', which is popular because of its fast and efficient processing and the fact that the fuel here has no sales tax or valued added tax and is therefore around one-third cheaper than anywhere else in the European Union. However, there is a lot of traffic that doesn't need to stop here and pre-clearance would change that."

The airport has advanced plans to encourage the development and expansion of FBO facilities. "Universal would like to increase its hangarage space and look at upgrading facilities to facilitate catering for the extra business that we expect will be generated. There is plenty of room at Shannon for development and there is a lot of support for a GA terminal in which we, preferably, would have our own FBO facilities."

O'Grady, who has been with Universal for around seven years, started at Shannon four years ago with a brief to develop business. Universal initially bought 75 per cent of the existing Execair operation but became 100 per cent owners around two years ago. A few years ago the operation handled only a few hundred flights a year. "There's been a very positive business trend for the last three years," O'Grady reports. "This is because of the advantages of being part of the Universal network and the very strong performance of the Irish economy. We now get some 1,500 to 2,000 flights a year. However, I can see this increasing substantially."

Signature Flight Support has a 25,000 square foot facility at Shannon that includes a BBJ-sized heated hangar. It relocated its entire Shannon FBO operation to a new facility in 2007 after creating and refurbishing crew and passenger lounges.

Mike Ryan, gm Ireland, says: "Signature currently has four aircraft based at the facility. Significant investment has been made in ground support equipment and additional personnel."

Signature is the only FBO on the airport with such a dedicated facility and anticipates attracting additional based and visiting aircraft, he adds. The FBO operator consensus is that pre-clearance to the United States will cement a growing role for Shannon as a key technical stop and destination airport.