On Friday 28 October 2022 in Dromoland Castle, Ireland West Airport and Shannon Airport were crowned joint winners of the Age Friendly Transport Awards at the National Age Friendly Ireland Awards last night.
Ireland West Airport and Shannon Airport were the first airports to be recognised as Age Friendly which was endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The airports won best in their category as both places exhibited the availability to good quality, easily accessible, user friendly and reliable transport options for the older person.
Additional projects shortlisted under the Transport category was TFI Local Link Kerry for delivering public and community transport services and TFI Local Link Mayo for their Covid-19 Community Response.
Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group said, “Earlier this year, we were honoured, along with our friends at Ireland West Airport, to be recognised and endorsed by the WHO, as the first Age Friendly airports in the world.”
Considine said that Shannon Airport “understand how much it means to our older community to be able to get to where they want to go, when they want to go.”
Mary comments on how the developments in Irelands infrastructure is making travelling more “accessible and user friendly for all ages.”
The initiatives that have been implemented by Shannon Airport which Mary Considine mentions like “designated age-friendly parking, better and bigger signage, putting a cover over our walkways to shield passengers from the rain, wind, or even the hot sun as they journey to and from an aircraft.”
The airports main priority is to have an open welcome and offer people the feeling of safety.
“It’s wonderful to have won this award and I want to congratulate all of the award winners from across the categories and thank our team for their commitment to this fantastic initiative.”