In the late 1950s, Shannon Airport was almost entirely dependent on transit passengers and refuelling for trans-Atlantic flights. With indicators that commercial aircraft would soon have the range to bypass the airport, the airport's then director, Brendan O'Regan, submitted a proposal for a special manufacturing and tax incentive zone to be created in the vicinity of the airport. This would create employment and promote Shannon Airport as a destination for air traffic in itself. The site adjacent to the airport was established in 1959,[1] with a second zone, Smithstown, following a number of years later.[2]
The Shannon Free Zone was intended to attract investment in exchange for tax incentives and tariff reductions.[3] While many of these incentives have since ceased,[4] as of 2019, there were reportedly more than 100 international firms employing more than 8,000 people based at the Shannon Free Zone.[5][6] Companies who have invested at Shannon have included Element Six (formerly DeBeers Industrial Diamonds), GECAS, GE Sensing, Intel, Lufthansa Technik, Zimmer and UCB.[7]
Until 2014, the Shannon Free Zone was managed by Shannon Development, an Irish government agency.[citation needed] As of 2020, it is managed by Shannon Commercial Properties, a commercial semi-state company and part of Shannon Group plc.[8]