Did you know the following about Shannon Airport? 
- Shannon is the only airport in Ireland that remains open all year round. It is a 24-hour operation, 365 days a year (even Christmas Day).
- There are over one million people residing within 90 minutes drive time of the airport.
- Shannon has the longest runway in Ireland at 3,200 metres and is officially designated as an alternate landing strip for the US Space Shuttle, should the need ever arise.
- The world’s first Duty Free shop was established at Shannon Airport in 1947. It began as a small kiosk staffed by one woman and today has grown into a multi-billion dollar retail industry throughout the world.
- Shannon is also home to the world-famous Irish Coffee, invented by Chef Joe Sheridan in 1942 to keep passengers warm while stopping off during their transatlantic flights.
- The airport was originally located at Foynes, as a sea-plane base for transatlantic flights. The airport relocated to a land-based facility in 1945.
- On 5th August 2009 Shannon became was the first airport in the world, outside of the Americas, to provide Full US Pre-clearance facilities to the USA, which includes immigration, customs and agriculture.
- Shannon is the most westerly airport in Europe and in the 1940s and 1950s was the primary technical transit stop for all airlines crossing the Atlantic to and from Europe.
- The aviation fuel storage facility at Shannon is the largest airport storage facility within the State and can hold 50+ days stock with 11 million gallons capacity.
- Bunratty Folk Park came into existence when a cottage at the airport was removed to make way for a new runway. It was carefully rebuilt in Bunratty in its original format and led to the development of Bunratty Folk Park, one of the top tourist attractions in the country.
