Chinese aviation opportunities identified for Shannon

Chinese aviation opportunities identified for Shannon

Chinese aviation opportunities for Shannon Airport were identified by Dr. Vincent Cunnane, chief executive, Shannon Development, during a recent visit to Beijing where he was a guest speaker at the China Civil Aviation Development Forum.

China will invest over $230bn in the aviation sector in the next five years and during his visit to China Cunnane met with senior management from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and a number of Chinese airlines, cargo operators and Chinese airport chief executives to explore potential business opportunities for Shannon. ??

"I was delighted to have been invited to speak at the prestigious Chinese Civil Aviation Development Forum. I was asked to address the Forum on how an airport can successfully enhance local and regional economies. Over 750 top aviation industry influencers from China and around the world were assembled. It was a unique opportunity to promote Shannon," said Cunnane.

How an airport can act as a catalyst for developing regional economies was a topic of particular interest to the Chinese Vice President Mr. Xi Jinping at his discussions with Cunnane during his visit to Shannon Development's head office in February.

"The 'Shannon' Brand is a well recognised and hugely respected in China. Chinese government officials and private sector investors I met there were well aware of the Shannon Free Zone. This stems from the1980s visit of Jiang Zemin, who later became President of China, to Shannon for a training course to study our Shannon Free Zone and related regional economic initiatives. The experience from Shannon was subsequently used in the development of China's Special Economic Zones," Cunnane explained.

During his visit the CEO had exploratory talks with key Chinese business interests around the opportunity for the development of a Chinese cargo hub, aviation leasing and aviation training investment at Shannon. Europe is China's biggest export market and Shannon Development is currently collaborating with Shannon Airport, IDA Ireland, Forf?s and the Irish Exporters Association in looking at cargo related opportunities for Shannon Airport and its environs.

"Shannon's unique global position in the aviation industry, untapped cargo potential capacity, strong government support for innovative development augers well for efforts to encourage Chinese air freight hub investment at Shannon," he said.

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