Arklow International Airport

KrisW1001

Is this the same Arklow that's 71 km from Dublin, or is there a closer one that I don't know about?

gerogerigegege

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055950283/arklow-international-airport

I recall them wanting to build a city for people from Hong Kong to come and live in near Drogheda too. Utter clowns

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989446#Comment_121989446

Bit unfair on Hong Kong people.

tohaltuwi

Arklow does have a (very scenic) rail link, albeit single track, it has a decent road north to Dublin and south to the lovely beaches of Wexford, and just inland is prime tourism territory. Like landing in Kerry or Donegal, the visitor touches down in the heart of a magical landscape with trekking, fishing, swimming, right at the doorstep. A good hotel or two built by the airport would get very good footfall. For south Dubliners or Wicklow and Wexford folk flying out of Arklow/Wicklow International Airport would be a very attractive prospect.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989420#Comment_121989420

Its about 45 mins drive off peak from South Dublin

Zebra3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989164#Comment_121989164

Good transport links to Dublin?

You’ve obviously not seen the thread about the Wexford train service…….

KrisW1001

From the nearest junction on M11 to the GPO, right now (Sunday evening, so off peak) comes up as an hour and ten minutes.

The other problem is geographical. Look at a road and rail map: this part of Wicklow is effectively in a pocket.. it's hard to get to from any other part of the country except Dublin city. From the next nearest city, Waterford, yes it's about 60 km closer than Dublin Airport, but from Limerick, Galway or Cork, DUB is easier to get to.

If someone wanted to build a new airport 70 km from Dublin, this is not the place for it. For a start, how do we deal with the traffic impacts on N11 Glen if the Downs of building an airport off M11?

This will never get through planning.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989560#Comment_121989560

Part of the plan includes paying Irish rail to dual track the line from Greystones down to the new rail station at the Kish on the northwest corner of the site

That would get a non stop to Bray from ELIA in about 40 minutes and town in about an hour 20 with just that stop

From the interview Id say they'll be talking to O'Leary if this gets legs

loco_scolo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989164#Comment_121989164

The last thing Dublin needs is another airport, it just needs proper competition from Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Knock.

Better to consolidate the two Belfast airports into one proper international airport, plus invest in Cork, Shannon and Knock. There are 7.2 million people in Ireland, only 2.5 million of these live in the Greater Dublin Area.

L1011

This is never, ever going to happen. Zero chance of getting planning permission. Mouthy O'Leary will talk about it as if its a done thing and how he'll do flights for 1c from it etc etc for a decent time after this and any further announcements though.

useless

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121987105#Comment_121987105

That presentation has Comic Sans font. Nothing professional is ever written in Comic Sans.

For that reason alone it'll never be built :-) Like the OP, I was checking the publication date of the story and wondering how the hell the SBP got conned into putting it on the front page… this one belongs with the Athlone Chinese regeneration and the Dr Quirkeys megacasino in Tipperary.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989560#Comment_121989560

45min drive to South Dublin is pretty good compared to all other airports out there except Dublin airport itself.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989605#Comment_121989605

Dublin airport takes almost 32million pax per year. The vast majority of which are not from this country.

For tourists coming into Dublin airport, generally their first stop on their trip is Dublin itself. So flying to DUB vs Arklow is much of a muchness.

The 2nd is transfers/stop overs: location matters not a jot in this case.

For people living in Dublin, Arklow is not that bad compared to traffic, queues and no doubt prices of Dublin airport.

purplepanda

How much will the government & taxpayers be asked to contribute towards a new airport in Arklow, plus additional transport infrastructure?

Waterford Airport is still waiting for government & local council funds of around €20million towards extending that runway for standard passenger flights.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121990055#Comment_121990055

The Billions mentioned to start the Arklow project would be private equity money though,usually thats money ready to flow

Vs Waterfords pleas for 25 million pushing up against all other competing asks from the public purse

Big difference

Lots of hurdles for the project to jump over first of course and anyone of them could fall it

Its one to watch

Sam Russell

I would think that the whole project will depend on Gov funding which may or not be available. I would say not.

I think it will not happen - April fool or not - scam or not.

Zebra3

Any new airport for Dublin at a similar distance to Dublin from Arklow would be built north of Dublin.

That’s where the population lies and where the highest projected growth will be.

Not that any new airport will happen in the foreseeable future…

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121990572#Comment_121990572

Whats the scam you keep mentioning ?

Feets

Real deatailed image Pureza. I hate the thought of the middle eastern folk laundering their money here in constructiin...they literally buy their way around the world.

Could it feasibly be done though? Looking at the image of the potential cpo'd land it cuts off all access from arklow to clogga to kilmurray and access around these areas....

blackbox

The railway line would cost more than the airport.

riddlinrussell

For the billions these investors could pay the 20 million to extend Waterfords runway, and the rest on a 150kph dualling/electrification of the Waterford to Kildare line and you'd get to Dublin by Train in less time than from this Arklow idea

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121990627#Comment_121990627

If it was obvious, it would hardly succeed as a scam. Money laundering is an obvious possible driving force.

AAAAAAAAA

It strikes me as a bit scammy too alright. The PowerPoint presentation seems far too crappy for a billion euro plan in 2024.

Being from Arklow I'm getting a bit tired of hearing of all these megaprojects that never go anywhere. 2 airports, double tracking, a port to replace Dublin Port, DOOR... Would be great if any of it was ever built!

BailMeOut

you will never get all the adjacent farmers to sell the 1000 acres needed. The only way to get that amount of land is via CP and that's not going to happen.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121991359#Comment_121991359

You cannot sell the railway you do not own

Whereas an airport you build and own is an asset that can be sold, hence the plan to locate closer to Dublin.

It cannot be even closer because of airspace status

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121991359#Comment_121991359

They'd need to extend the runway by 10km to get to Plunkett Station 🙂

There's a reason it's known locally as 'Tramore Airport'.

Arklow airport is a daft idea. As was 'Waterford' Airport originally.

Sam Russell

Mind you, Monsignor Horan managed to build an international airport on a soggy, boggy, foggy mountain - the Knock - with no real plan, no funding, and just faith that the Lord would provide (plus a bit of political pressure).

As one supporter of the project put it - It is easier to get funding for one mile of runway than 50 miles of motorway.

However, I doubt that such a project, supported as it was by the church believers, would get anywhere in today's Ireland. I know of someone (a relative - long dead) who sent a private donation to help build it.

Would it not be better for the backers of this project to be asked to fund the Metrolink?

riddlinrussell

10km of railway is chump change if these guys are linked to the ones building that ridiculous 500m wide city in the desert.

KrisW1001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989895#Comment_121989895

Yes, this is very likely some Crown Prince's fever dream that'll get forgotten again, but you're wrong about the font. The presentation made by the CERN team announcing their discovery of the Higgs Boson, one of the biggest events in modern Physics, was written entirely in Comic Sans.

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121991630#Comment_121991630

Your knowledge of the geography of Waterford and where its infrastructure is located is lacking if you think this is a cost issue.

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121991622#Comment_121991622

We also personally helped fund Knock airport :)

We paid £2 to drive down the runway when it was being constructed.