Aer Arann to Europe

teckno

Hi All,

I was on Aer Arann just now and noticed that they have flights scheduled from Waterford to Amsterdam/Faro/Bordeaux/Malaga starting in the Summer. Last year Slatterys travel ran them not Aer Arann. Did anybody here anything about Aer Arann now running these routes?

sm123_irl

Tribune Archive


Aer Arann to unveil its first jets
Ken Griffin



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AER ARANN looks set to unveil its first jet aircraft later this year as part of a new strategy to develop a continental European route network from Galway and Waterford airports.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that the airline is in talks with Nex Aviation, a recently established Galway-based regional carrier, regarding the use of Nex's two BAe 146 jets.

Aviation insiders have indicated that Nex will retain ownership of the jets but will run them on behalf of Aer Arann under a franchise deal.

It is understood that the franchise, if successful, could be the precursor to Aer Arann buying its own jets. The limited range of its current turboprop aircraft means that the airline can currently only offer services as far as northern France.

It is believed that Aer Arann will take on Nex's existing route network, which includes summer services to Bordeaux in France, Malaga in Spain and Faro in Portugal, as well as several new routes of its own.

The airline refused to comment on the move but its managing director Garry Cullen said that its future growth would require jet aircraft "to extend our routes from Irish regional airports to destinations throughout continental Europe, such as Paris or Amsterdam".

"A variety of different types of aircraft are being assessed, and we expect to be able to make an announcement in the next few months."

Nex, which had originally been known as Fly U, is backed by a number of prominent businessmen from Galway and Waterford including Dawn Meats boss Daniel Browne and Nicholas Fewer, the chairman of Waterford Airport.

Its general manager is former Galway Airport marketing and route development executive Peter O'Mara.

Basically the flights last summer were operated by Nex Aviation and sold by Slatterys, with the change this year of the flights being operated by Nex Aviation and branded and sold as Aer Arann flights

vegas elvis

thats good news...

Does anone know how last years flights to malaga compared price wise with cork airport?

Roen

I think there's a mega sale on seats on at the moment, could be worth looking at if anyone's interested.

fricatus

Now this is absolutely FANTASTIC news.

Schipol is a major international hub, so this opens up connections from Waterford to places all over the world. Manchester is a fairly big hub airport, but nothing like on the scale of AMS.

tonc76

Aer Arann has entered a franchise agreement with Nex Aviation to add four new routes to Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Malaga, and Faro.

The new services will come into effect on May 1 from Galway and Waterford airports.

Aer Arann boss Garry Cullen said: "In addition to the sun destinations, this route expansion offers services to Amsterdam Schiphol. Schiphol offers the best connections of any airport in the world, with more than 260 destinations in 91 countries."

Flights will operate daily from both airports to alternate destinations:

Monday: Bordeaux and Amsterdam

Tuesday: Malaga

Wednesday: Faro

Thursday: Amsterdam

Friday: Bordeaux and Amsterdam

Saturday: Malaga

Sunday: Faro and Amsterdam

sm123_irl

there is also reports that Paris CDG and Palma and going to be added they are working on slots at the moment so they should hopefully be confirmed soon

fricatus

Paris and Palma as well? Holy sh1t!!!! I must say, I'm bowled over... I just hope they hold on to some of the big city routes, say Paris and Amsterdam, through the winter. We could see another massive jump in passenger numbers this year if they do. (They first hit six figures in 2007... how long before they hit seven figures? It can be done, that's the next target.)

I'm also very impressed at the Galway-Waterford axis of cooperation evident in the press release above. Probably the business communities in both cities realised they had to pool their efforts, at least for now, in order to get these services established. Kind of contrasts with the efforts of some in the south-east to work against Waterford's interests, rather than finding synergies that benefit everyone...

Congratulations to all involved on a magnificent job!

mike65

Indeed, now all they need to do is get on with the runway and the road to it.

Mike.

mickger

Thats great news especially the Amsterdam routes. From Amsterdam you can go anywhere in the world. Its a huge airport and a better connection point than Heathrow in my opinion.

mad man

This is great news especially the Amsterdam one as it is a major hub in paractical terms equal to Heathrow. I think this one particlar is a fantastic boost and would be a huge boost if it could be extended throughout the Winter.

Trotter

I was in touch with Aer Arann recently regarding flights to Dublin and Galway from Waterford. They said they had no plans to run any services to either.

While the news is fantastic about the european links, I'd really like to see a daily flight to Dublin from Waterford and moreso a friday evening flight to Galway that returned on Sunday night. (And vice versa also).

It'd help the development of internal tourism in the western and south east regions.

JohnC.

Trotter wrote: »

I was in touch with Aer Arann recently regarding flights to Dublin and Galway from Waterford. They said they had no plans to run any services to either.

While the news is fantastic about the european links, I'd really like to see a daily flight to Dublin from Waterford and moreso a friday evening flight to Galway that returned on Sunday night. (And vice versa also).

It'd help the development of internal tourism in the western and south east regions.

I wonder how well would it work? It's a small country. Most people with a car would probably prefer to drive. How do the prices of other internal flights compare with bus or train for the same route?

Trotter

Kahless wrote: »

I wonder how well would it work? It's a small country. Most people with a car would probably prefer to drive. How do the prices of other internal flights compare with bus or train for the same route?

Well I was in Dublin recently and needed to head to Galway. A Sunday morning flight from Dublin airport to Galway was €10 more than the train. The train took the best part of 4 hours, yet I was in Galway in an hour and I was at the bar in the hotel checking my mail and having a coffee before the train even chugged into Galway.

I believe that there is another world in Galway and say down around the lakes in Killarney that few people on the east coast are aware of. The convenience of jumping on a plane would really attract me.

I don't drink or smoke and I have disposable income to hand to Aer Arann right now if they'll get me down to Connemara on a friday evening and home again on Sunday. If I drive, its an 8 hour round trip... which takes the gloss off the trip to be honest.

The west coast of Ireland may be physically close compared to Amsterdam, but it really is just as much another world.

So.. gimme the flights!!

merlante

Trotter wrote: »

Well I was in Dublin recently and needed to head to Galway. A Sunday morning flight from Dublin airport to Galway was €10 more than the train. The train took the best part of 4 hours, yet I was in Galway in an hour and I was at the bar in the hotel checking my mail and having a coffee before the train even chugged into Galway.

I believe that there is another world in Galway and say down around the lakes in Killarney that few people on the east coast are aware of. The convenience of jumping on a plane would really attract me.

I don't drink or smoke and I have disposable income to hand to Aer Arann right now if they'll get me down to Connemara on a friday evening and home again on Sunday. If I drive, its an 8 hour round trip... which takes the gloss off the trip to be honest.

The west coast of Ireland may be physically close compared to Amsterdam, but it really is just as much another world.

So.. gimme the flights!!

The problem is that Waterford is much closer to Dublin than Galway, and when the motorway is built, it'll feel closer again. If the train smartens up a bit, it'll be quicker than a flight + waiting + checking in + direct bus to city centre, etc.; in fact maybe it is already. I think that if we have a top class train service then we don't need a flight.

I used to be a big advocate of a Dublin-Waterford flight, particularly because every other airport in the country has a subsidised flight to Dublin, and because Waterford didn't, it faced closure in 2002. But the way things have gone, Dublin does not figure nearly as much in the grand scheme of things as I thought. Over the last few years, regional airports have concentrated more on UK and international flights, and that's really where it's at. Dublin is a decent hub, and 20 million people go through it every year, but it has nothing on Amsterdam, which has more like 46 million per year. Manchester is about the same size as Dublin, and London Luton is not half bad either. When we can have hubs like these, who needs Dublin?

Dublin Airport is a complete hassle anyway until they link it to the city centre with some kind of train. Considering how long it took them to get the Luas done, I'd expect it by about 2025.

Trotter

merlante wrote: »

The problem is that Waterford is much closer to Dublin than Galway, and when the motorway is built, it'll feel closer again. If the train smartens up a bit, it'll be quicker than a flight + waiting + checking in + direct bus to city centre, etc.; in fact maybe it is already. I think that if we have a top class train service then we don't need a flight.

I used to be a big advocate of a Dublin-Waterford flight, particularly because every other airport in the country has a subsidised flight to Dublin, and because Waterford didn't, it faced closure in 2002. But the way things have gone, Dublin does not figure nearly as much in the grand scheme of things as I thought. Over the last few years, regional airports have concentrated more on UK and international flights, and that's really where it's at. Dublin is a decent hub, and 20 million people go through it every year, but it has nothing on Amsterdam, which has more like 46 million per year. Manchester is about the same size as Dublin, and London Luton is not half bad either. When we can have hubs like these, who needs Dublin?

Dublin Airport is a complete hassle anyway until they link it to the city centre with some kind of train. Considering how long it took them to get the Luas done, I'd expect it by about 2025.

True.. That motorway will make the difference alright.

Its that Galway flight I'm after though. Given that the returning European flights will land in Waterford and then go on to Galway, I dont see why that doesnt give people the option to fly to Galway on that stopover, and to come back on the opposite flight.

deisemum

Trotter wrote: »

True.. That motorway will make the difference alright.

Its that Galway flight I'm after though. Given that the returning European flights will land in Waterford and then go on to Galway, I dont see why that doesnt give people the option to fly to Galway on that stopover, and to come back on the opposite flight.

Oh I wish there were flight from Waterford to Galway like there used to be.

Ryanair used to fly from London to Galway via Waterford and return the same route. We used to fly to Waterford and the flight continued to Galway. A few days later we'd get a flight from Waterford to Galway and it only took 20 mins. It was only £5 dearer than the bus.

galwayrush

fricatus wrote: »

I'm also very impressed at the Galway-Waterford axis of cooperation evident in the press release above. Probably the business communities in both cities realised they had to pool their efforts, at least for now, in order to get these services established.

Excellent point, both Regions benefit and there should be enough demand between the two Airports to make it and hopefully other Routes successful.:cool:

teckno

Just looked at website again and went to do some bookings to see how much it would cost and quite frankly whilst it is great to see the airport progressing and offering more and more flights until we get Ryanair in we are being robbed. A return flight to Amsterdam comes in at something like €180 which is ok when you have money to blow on flights.

On the domestic flights why should not we in Waterford not have domestic flights thru Aer Arann. Quite frankly a market i believe is there for flights to Galway, Dublin, Belfast etc, why not??

mike65

Ryanairs return should'nt be ruled out, but it won't happen until the new runaway is operational (2009-ish).

Mike.

fricatus

Trotter wrote: »

Its that Galway flight I'm after though. Given that the returning European flights will land in Waterford and then go on to Galway, I dont see why that doesnt give people the option to fly to Galway on that stopover, and to come back on the opposite flight.

True, seats occupied by Amsterdam-Waterford passengers will be empty when the plane leaves Waterford for Galway. They could definitely be sold.

I wonder why not. Maybe the impact on turnaround times? It's easier and quicker to deplane 50 or 60 people and their luggage, then take off, rather than deplane those people, and then board maybe 5 or 10 and their luggage. I'm sure Amsterdam-Galway travellers don't want to be sitting too long on the ground in Blaa-land

Trotter

fricatus wrote: »

I'm sure Amsterdam-Galway travellers don't want to be sitting too long on the ground in Blaa-land

They should be charged extra for 10 mins on our glorious tarmac!!

fricatus

Trotter wrote: »

They should be charged extra for 10 mins on our glorious tarmac!!

They should serve our delicious blaas on the way back, then sure no-one would want to continue on to Galway! Problem solved!

Aquos76

Well I am delighted that these flights are been kept on again for this summer. I used the service last year to go to Malaga and I though it was so relaxing not having to drive down to Cork or worse still up to Dublin. It made a hugh difference to our over all holiday. Also not having to worry about massive car parking fees too.

Mind you though, we were diverted to Shannon on our return journey, but that was down to awful weather the night we returned. It was the Saturday night of the Spraoi weekend. I'm sure those involved with the Spraoi will remember the weather that day.

I have already booked flights for this year again in August and it has worked out at €800 for 4 people return compared to similar flights out of Cork with Aer lingus, including all their ridiculous baggage charges €925

gally74

folks,

the galway waterford flight is advertised in todays irish independant 20 euro! each way, its an 08 flight, but no introduction date yet

Nightwish

I saw flights to the UK being advertised for €30 each way incl taxes and charges, but when I went to book them it was €130! I hope that the prices will be more competitive in the near future as I would definately fly from Waterford as opposed to the hell-hole that is Dublin airport.

Trotter

God it'll be brilliant if that galway flight happens. I'm torn between just getting a taxi from Galway airport to the city centre or hiring a car and heading up to the connemara area. Its great to have the option. Fingers crossed!