Air travel restrictions eased this week with people from Tipperary and elsewhere using their European Digital Covid Cert to travel safely.
Anthony Ryan from Capparoe, Nenagh, was among those who travelled out of Shannon Airport yesterday.
As someone who has business interests in the UK, he heartily welcomed the opportunity to fly again with ease after restrictions for so long.
He had this to say just before he boarded the earliest flight for Gatwick at 7.10am yesterday morning.
“I’m travelling because I’ve pubs in London and when Shannon closed down, we were devastated because we didn’t move for about six months.
“So when it was announced that Shannon would open again, we were so happy.
“I left home this morning, I’ll be in Gatwick Airport in an hour and a half. I saw the advertising over the weekend that they were welcoming back flights to several different countries.
“Now, with regular flights it’s going to make life so easy.”
CEO of Shannon Group, Mary Considine said: “The reopening of international travel is a very significant step forward not only for Shannon Airport, but for the thousands of jobs and businesses along the Wild Atlantic Way and Mid-West that depend on these services to support their operation.
“With the introduction of the EU Digital COVID certificate, together with the roll-out of the vaccination programme, which is powering ahead, there is a real sense of optimism in the air.
“Although there is a long road ahead of us to get airport passenger numbers back to anything like 2019 levels, it is important to acknowledge these milestones on our journey to recover and rebuild our business.”
