- AirNav Ireland’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen celebrated 90 years of service.
- The centre handles up to 1,800 flights daily.
- Approximately 70 personnel work at the centre including more than 50 radio officers.
- The station was established in October 1936.
- Aer Lingus’s oldest aircraft, the Iolar, conducted a fly-past.
AirNav Ireland’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen has celebrated 90 years of continuous service to global aviation. Since 1936 the centre has ensured the safe passage ofms of aircraft crossing the North Atlantic. The centre operates beyond the reach of traditional radar and VHF radio coverage and uses High Frequency shortwave radio to connect with aircraft crossing the Atlantic.
Today approximately 70 personnel including more than 50 radio officers manage air-ground communications across the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area, handling up to 1,800 flights daily. AirNav Ireland works in partnership with Avians, Iceland’s air navigation service provider, to deliver High Frequency radio communications services across both the Shanwick and Reykjavik Oceanic Control Areas. The station was established in October 1936 on a 90-acre site near Shannon and initially provided ground communications via Morse code for transatlantic flying boats operating out of Foynes.
In 1966 a landmark agreement between the Irish and English Governments merged regional oceanic responsibilities, pairing air traffic control at Prestwick with radio communications at Ballygirreen to create the joint Shanwick operational framework. The station’s signal is powered by its companion transmission facility at Urlanmore featuring a vast antenna array including five 225-foot log-periodic antennas. Aer Lingus’s oldest surviving aircraft, the Iolar, registration EI-ABI and dating from 1936, conducted a fly-past over the event on the morning of the anniversary celebrations.
Gerald Caffrey shared “As an island nation, Ireland relies heavily on aviation to connect people, business, and cultures worldwide. The unwavering commitment of the team at North Atlantic Communications Centre over the last ninety years has made our airspace one of the safest and most efficient in the world.”
