Shannon Airport could be dealt another body blow with the potential loss of its lucrative US troops contract.
Its reported in today’s Irish Independent that another European Airline has put in a major bid for the multi million euro business.
It comes just weeks after Ryanair announced that it was withdrawing further services from the Mid West Airport
Over a million US troops have passed through Shannon in the past four years en route to Iraq and Afghanistan with almost a quarter of a million using the Clare airport alone last year.
The troop traffic is seen as a lifeline for the Mid West Airport given the plummet in passenger numbers over the past twelve months.
There are mounting fears that massive cutbacks in Shannon operations by major carriers, including Ryanair, could leave the airport facing a 60pc drop compared to its 2006 passenger throughput and there are calls for major initiative to turn its fortunes around.
However those efforts could now be dealt a further blow with news paper reports today that German Airport Leipzig has put in a major bid to takeover the US troop traffic that currently use Shannon.
Politicians and business leaders have warned that any potential loss of the US military traffic to Leipzig could be catastrophic for the entire mid-west region.
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