DaithaiC
13th May 2008, 08:50
However from what I saw on the recent trip the airport badly needs better and more focused management and a redesign of the interior and better passenger facilities as it is a drab impersonation of its former glory – indeed the interior is alarmingly 70’s retro and the facilities have not kept up. In the main terminal there is little choice in catering outlets with the main attraction being the morose “Estuary Restaurant” whose main design feature is lines of tray clearing trolleys and whose signature dish is (an expensive) “Full Irish Breakfast” as, no doubt, it has been for the past 40 years. The retail outlets are not great but as I found out infinitely better than the poor offering airside.
To get airside you are obliged to go through a chaotic security area which is cramped and badly laid out with no proper segregation with passengers being searched, interviewed and waiting to collect their belongings all in the same line. Once you get airside it is drab looking with seating dirty & worn and very little to occupy you. The whole place needs redesign and redecoration and could do with more competition for refreshment outlets but it scores with free WFI internet access and an inside viewing area. However there is not much to look at outside as it is not a busy place for aircraft movements. However going up to the viewing gallery is not easy as (in a reflection of the lack of attention to detail and proactive management throughout the airport) one lift was out of order and the other had a red light indicating wrongly that the gallery was closed. The viewing gallery is a huge empty space with a row of seats at one end and is a huge waste. Shannon has a great story to tell but no where is it told properly – this empty space is crying out for a properly themed professional exhibition on Shannon’s role in aviation history.
The toilets throughout the airport are grubby, smelly and in need of a heavy clean although a complete refit to modern standards would serve them better. Also complete sections seem to be closed for the convenience of cleaning staff. Escalators and lifts appear to be out of order with no explanatory signs and it follows no sense of urgency about the inconvenience to passengers.
However the biggest disappointment was in the Duty Free Shop where I had to pinch myself to remember that this was where the concept was invented and where the Shannon Sales and Catering Organisation ran the Shannon Mail Order Company, Castles Banquets and the Shannon College of Hotel Management and set up Duty Free Shops in other countries. Reflecting the rest of the airport the display is chaotic, grubby and disorganized, a reminder of how much retailing has moved on elsewhere. It took me ten minutes to pay for 3 (non duty free items) at a cash register which was filthy and dust covered. I then wanted to buy a paper and the total selection at this “International” airport was the Irish Times and the Examiner, there wasn’t even a selection of Irish let alone international papers. I didn’t buy in the end as there was a queue of 14 people and one pay point.
I believe Shannon Airport has no idea how far removed its current customer offering is from the Best in Class. It is shabby, old fashioned and a poor customer offering – even more so when contrasted with its history of innovation and its reputation for customer service established under the late Brendan O’Regan who died not long ago. It needs a new start with being run independently, with new investment and I would suggest new management because it has the wrong type of staff in the wrong places. If you want to see a successful airport with quality design and facilities which acts as a superb showcase for its country look no further than Malta’s Luqa airport which is the best I’ve seen in Europe. Shannon has a great history but that is not enough for it now needs to capture the future and once again set the pace and standard. I hope it will because the region and Ireland deserve no less.
Full article on my Blog;
http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/shannon-airport-ireland.html
To get airside you are obliged to go through a chaotic security area which is cramped and badly laid out with no proper segregation with passengers being searched, interviewed and waiting to collect their belongings all in the same line. Once you get airside it is drab looking with seating dirty & worn and very little to occupy you. The whole place needs redesign and redecoration and could do with more competition for refreshment outlets but it scores with free WFI internet access and an inside viewing area. However there is not much to look at outside as it is not a busy place for aircraft movements. However going up to the viewing gallery is not easy as (in a reflection of the lack of attention to detail and proactive management throughout the airport) one lift was out of order and the other had a red light indicating wrongly that the gallery was closed. The viewing gallery is a huge empty space with a row of seats at one end and is a huge waste. Shannon has a great story to tell but no where is it told properly – this empty space is crying out for a properly themed professional exhibition on Shannon’s role in aviation history.
The toilets throughout the airport are grubby, smelly and in need of a heavy clean although a complete refit to modern standards would serve them better. Also complete sections seem to be closed for the convenience of cleaning staff. Escalators and lifts appear to be out of order with no explanatory signs and it follows no sense of urgency about the inconvenience to passengers.
However the biggest disappointment was in the Duty Free Shop where I had to pinch myself to remember that this was where the concept was invented and where the Shannon Sales and Catering Organisation ran the Shannon Mail Order Company, Castles Banquets and the Shannon College of Hotel Management and set up Duty Free Shops in other countries. Reflecting the rest of the airport the display is chaotic, grubby and disorganized, a reminder of how much retailing has moved on elsewhere. It took me ten minutes to pay for 3 (non duty free items) at a cash register which was filthy and dust covered. I then wanted to buy a paper and the total selection at this “International” airport was the Irish Times and the Examiner, there wasn’t even a selection of Irish let alone international papers. I didn’t buy in the end as there was a queue of 14 people and one pay point.
I believe Shannon Airport has no idea how far removed its current customer offering is from the Best in Class. It is shabby, old fashioned and a poor customer offering – even more so when contrasted with its history of innovation and its reputation for customer service established under the late Brendan O’Regan who died not long ago. It needs a new start with being run independently, with new investment and I would suggest new management because it has the wrong type of staff in the wrong places. If you want to see a successful airport with quality design and facilities which acts as a superb showcase for its country look no further than Malta’s Luqa airport which is the best I’ve seen in Europe. Shannon has a great history but that is not enough for it now needs to capture the future and once again set the pace and standard. I hope it will because the region and Ireland deserve no less.
Full article on my Blog;
http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/shannon-airport-ireland.html