Passengers could pay airport charges direct to Shannon Airport
Passengers using Shannon Airport could well be paying the passenger handling charge direct to the airport if a new proposal by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is implemented. The move has been designed to boost the airport's revenue which has fallen significantly in the past two years with passenger numbers down almost 1m since 2008. The current full passenger handling fee at Shannon is €15 for a return journey but under route incentive schemes which are used to assist airlines in developing services from DAA airports this figure can be heavily discounted such as in the case of Ryanair which is paying in the region of €1 or €2 under the terms of its current agreement. That agreement will not be renewed and was the cause of Ryanair "pulling the plug" on Shannon recently when both sides failed to successfully negotiate a new deal.
Passengers paying their own charges direct to the airport is most likely to be collected airside as happens with Knock Ireland West Airport which charges departing passengers a €10 "Airport Development Fee". The advantage to Shannon is that it elimnates the route incentive scheme discount and has the effect of reducing the ticket price paid by the passenger to the airline thus creating the perception of cheaper travel. It also eliminates a source of airline revenue whereby the airline retains the passenger charges in the event of "no shows".
The €10 government travel tax would remain unaffected by the DAA proposal.