Waterford Airport.

TheFitz13

Don't forget where, how and what route Ryanair started on!

Deiseen

MentalMario wrote: »

5kg carry-on allowance.

That certainly ain't amazing.

Although, in saying that, if prices are always under €100, you wouldn't mind paying the check in fee of €20.

Airlines are usually relaxed about carry on luggage. I've seen people bring massive suitcases onto planes and no one says anything!

Deiseen

Baby4 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I think people underestimate the convenience. Your looking at a 3 hour bus/train to Dublin plus the aim of being there 1.5/2 hours before in case of any issues. If you are lucky enough that your bus arrives in exactly 2 hours before your flight leaves then you are looking at a minimum of about 5 hours to the airport.  

If your going to Waterford you don't really have to worry about many of the unforeseen issues so your looking at a saving of almost 4.5 hours. Now I don't know about a lot of people but to me that is worth about €50 alone each way (don't forget you are saving on the bus/train too)

BBM77

Deiseen wrote: »

I think people underestimate the convenience. Your looking at a 3 hour bus/train to Dublin plus the aim of being there 1.5/2 hours before in case of any issues. If you are lucky enough that your bus arrives in exactly 2 hours before your flight leaves then you are looking at a minimum of about 5 hours to the airport.  

If your going to Waterford you don't really have to worry about many of the unforeseen issues so your looking at a saving of almost 4.5 hours. Now I don't know about a lot of people but to me that is worth about €50 alone each way (don't forget you are saving on the bus/train too)

I could never understand when people do this. Going to Dublin or somewhere else to buy something because it is €30 or €40 cheaper. And not see that they wipe out the savings on petrol/bus/train/luas + food. Not to mention as you say the wasted time. The mind boggles.

witless1

I just booked 2 flights for September to London. 2 of us need to head over for work for a few days, out on a Tuesday and need to be there early enough and back on a Friday evening. Cost wise, as a business traveller, it's actually identical to Dublin. Dublin wins on the cheap flight but it's costing me ~200 euro in mileage, ~50 euro parking and a few quid on tolls to get there. That difference brings it to parity. Depending on the time of flights you take, it makes it cheaper for a business traveller as it's less hours lost in transit and waiting around. I'm not counting in the hours of work lost travelling to and from the airport for this journey as it's early start and late finish but it's sure to be a factor for other companies who charge by the hour for staff. I'm hoping that will sustain it to an extent.

On a personal level, to make the equivalent flight I'd need to leave at 5am and hit Dublin airport at it's peak time for security clearance. It would be a rush getting through not to mention the impact it has on you later in the day. In fact I'd consider an overnight in Dublin to make that flight which is adding ~100 euro to the cost if I went down that route. Coming back it would be closer to 23:30 and I hitting home, if I was lucky with baggage and traffic and the motorway on a Friday evening. Comparing that to being home at 21:30. It's completely worth it!

dzilla

Deiseen wrote: »

I think people underestimate the convenience. Your looking at a 3 hour bus/train to Dublin plus the aim of being there 1.5/2 hours before in case of any issues. If you are lucky enough that your bus arrives in exactly 2 hours before your flight leaves then you are looking at a minimum of about 5 hours to the airport.  

If your going to Waterford you don't really have to worry about many of the unforeseen issues so your looking at a saving of almost 4.5 hours. Now I don't know about a lot of people but to me that is worth about €50 alone each way (don't forget you are saving on the bus/train too)

In the course of this thread and a similiar thread on the aviation forum I have saidt he exact same thing as you. You are dead right, I don't think people value their time. I would gladly spend an extra 50 - 60 euro if it saves me a 6 hr round trip bus to Dublin airport.

dzilla

witless1 wrote: »

I just booked 2 flights for September to London. 2 of us need to head over for work for a few days, out on a Tuesday and need to be there early enough and back on a Friday evening. Cost wise, as a business traveller, it's actually identical to Dublin. Dublin wins on the cheap flight but it's costing me ~200 euro in mileage, ~50 euro parking and a few quid on tolls to get there. That difference brings it to parity. Depending on the time of flights you take, it makes it cheaper for a business traveller as it's less hours lost in transit and waiting around. I'm not counting in the hours of work lost travelling to and from the airport for this journey as it's early start and late finish but it's sure to be a factor for other companies who charge by the hour for staff. I'm hoping that will sustain it to an extent.

On a personal level, to make the equivalent flight I'd need to leave at 5am and hit Dublin airport at it's peak time for security clearance. It would be a rush getting through not to mention the impact it has on you later in the day. In fact I'd consider an overnight in Dublin to make that flight which is adding ~100 euro to the cost if I went down that route. Coming back it would be closer to 23:30 and I hitting home, if I was lucky with baggage and traffic and the motorway on a Friday evening. Comparing that to being home at 21:30. It's completely worth it!

This is bang on

Deiseen

dzilla wrote: »

Deiseen wrote: »

I think people underestimate the convenience. Your looking at a 3 hour bus/train to Dublin plus the aim of being there 1.5/2 hours before in case of any issues. If you are lucky enough that your bus arrives in exactly 2 hours before your flight leaves then you are looking at a minimum of about 5 hours to the airport.  

If your going to Waterford you don't really have to worry about many of the unforeseen issues so your looking at a saving of almost 4.5 hours. Now I don't know about a lot of people but to me that is worth about €50 alone each way (don't forget you are saving on the bus/train too)

In the course of this thread and a similiar thread on the aviation forum I have saidt he exact same thing as you. You are dead right, I don't think people value their time. I would gladly spend an extra 50 - 60 euro if it saves me a 6 hr round trip bus to Dublin airport.

I don't even have kids. If I did, I would pay a whole lot more just to get out of that bus to Dublin/Cork.

JCX BXC

Heard this at the start of the VLM service too, and that offered much greater frequencies and also had alot of advertising.

I'm afraid that putting on rose tinted glasses won't help this one. I wish it every successful but I just honestly don't see it working, especially given the overheads of a brand new company starting the route.

Dum_Dum

The most important aspect to all of this is that the airport can now make a case for the runway to taken from it's current crippling state to the normal standard enjoyed everywhere else.

dzilla

JCX BXC wrote: »

Heard this at the start of the VLM service too, and that offered much greater frequencies and also had alot of advertising.

I'm afraid that putting on rose tinted glasses won't help this one. I wish it every successful but I just honestly don't see it working, especially given the overheads of a brand new company starting the route.

yeah so you said before.

Deiseen

JCX BXC wrote: »

Heard this at the start of the VLM service too, and that offered much greater frequencies and also had alot of advertising.

I'm afraid that putting on rose tinted glasses won't help this one. I wish it every successful but I just honestly don't see it working, especially given the overheads of a brand new company starting the route.

No one is questioning the difficulties facing the company but I am sure they have done their homework a little more than you have and are sure that they can succeed. It won't be easy but I don't think that they are just foolishly throwing their money in for the craic without having considered it properly.

Squidvicious

Deiseen wrote: »

No one is questioning the difficulties facing the company but I am sure they have done their homework a little more than you have and are sure that they can succeed. It won't be easy but I don't think that they are just foolishly throwing their money in for the craic without having considered it properly.

Yes - that's right - it must have some chance of success at least.

Does anyone know whether the previous airlines actually lost money on the Waterford flights or was it just that they didn't make enough?

Squidvicious

Deiseen wrote: »

I don't even have kids. If I did, I would pay a whole lot more just to get out of that bus to Dublin/Cork.

I do and we're planning a trip to the UK for a few days over the summer. I'm really looking forward to being able to take them from Waterford - so hassle free compared to Dublin. As you say, it's really worth extra money to bring your kids through a stress free airport like Waterford. If Carlsberg did airports, they'd be like Waterford;)(though with a few more destinations added in).

CantGetNoSleep

MentalMario wrote: »

5kg carry-on allowance.

That certainly ain't amazing.

Although, in saying that, if prices are always under €100, you wouldn't mind paying the check in fee of €20.

I think those smaller planes won't fit the normal wheely hand-luggage cases

Deiseen

How many people can fit on these planes?

Squidvicious

Deiseen wrote: »

How many people can fit on these planes?

I read 34 seats in the Irish Times today.

dzilla

34 seats. there is a row of 4 at the back I believe.

AdMMM

This service looks to tick all the boxes needed for a regional airport service and I can't understand all the negativity?

Business flyers can leave their house at 6am and be in the centre of London just after 9am.

Leisure travelers also have easy access to the EasyJet and WizzAir network as well as some of the charter airlines such as Thomson.

There seems to be this obsession with needing 737s and 320s flying in and out of Waterford every day but I don't think that's ever going to be realistic. The runway could be twelve miles long but there still wouldn't be the regional demand to fill those planes on a regular enough basis to make a route profitable.

Make no mistake, I'd love to be able to fly direct from Waterford - New York/San Francisco for work or to the Canaries on my holidays but even if the runway was extended, I can't imagine an airline being able to justify basing an aircraft in Waterford full-time throughout a season and create brand new routes, especially when there are more profitable opportunities throughout Europe!

road_high

Guys how much would a runway extension cost? Is there anyway private investors that would take it on and run it ala Frankfurt Hahn as a budget alternative to Dublin? Plenty of people like me would use it around south Leinster instead of Dublin if it had something like Ryanair (think Knock here also). There's only ione airport on the east side of the country where more people live...
I guess Dublin and Cork don't want this (obviously) but if it wasn't publicly funded they couldn't interfere.

road_high

AdMMM wrote: »

This service looks to tick all the boxes needed for a regional airport service and I can't understand all the negativity?

Business flyers can leave their house at 6am and be in the centre of London just after 9am.

Leisure travelers also have easy access to the EasyJet and WizzAir network as well as some of the charter airlines such as Thomson.

There seems to be this obsession with needing 737s and 320s flying in and out of Waterford every day but I don't think that's ever going to be realistic. The runway could be twelve miles long but there still wouldn't be the regional demand to fill those planes on a regular enough basis to make a route profitable.

Make no mistake, I'd love to be able to fly direct from Waterford - New York/San Francisco for work or to the Canaries on my holidays but even if the runway was extended, I can't imagine an airline being able to justify basing an aircraft in Waterford full-time throughout a season and create brand new routes, especially when there are more profitable opportunities throughout Europe!

I'm not so sure- if the Airport was to grab some of the Dublin traffic south of say Newbridge it would allow the airport to be attractive beyond just Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford.
People in the west travel much further to use Knock or Shannon (because they have jets/longer haul).

sillysocks

The weekend times are good too, leave Waterford at 5 Friday evening, and return 8 Sunday night. Perfect for a quick weekend break in London without even needing a day off work!

CelticRambler

road_high wrote: »

There's only ione airport on the east side of the country where more people live...

Emmmm, aren't you forgetting the "BExit" airport (two of them, in fact) a hundred miles north of Dublin? Lovely long runway, intercontinental flights, and still thousands of people from it's catchment area choose to fly from Dublin.

road_high

CelticRambler wrote: »

Emmmm, aren't you forgetting the "BExit" airport (two of them, in fact) a hundred miles north of Dublin? Lovely long runway, intercontinental flights, and still thousands of people from it's catchment area choose to fly from Dublin.

Is there more to that though? Maybe they're not particularly business friendly and the airlines flock to dublin instead? With the right business model I'm just teasing out if Waterford could be a successful airport under a low cost model

fricatus

AdMMM wrote: »

There seems to be this obsession with needing 737s and 320s flying in and out of Waterford every day but I don't think that's ever going to be realistic. The runway could be twelve miles long but there still wouldn't be the regional demand to fill those planes on a regular enough basis to make a route profitable.

I'd probably be convinced by your argument if it weren't for the fact that the sort of service we'd ideally like in Waterford is already available from both Knock and Kerry. Knock has five destinations in the UK, plus places like Milan and Alicante, and Kerry has flights to London, Germany and some of the sun destinations. I know Kerry has its own particular tourist market, but still, I don't see how Waterford wouldn't be able to support a couple of Ryanair flights to London each day - it just doesn't add up when you see what's already in place in Knock and Kerry.

Squidvicious

road_high wrote: »

Is there more to that though? Maybe they're not particularly business friendly and the airlines flock to dublin instead? With the right business model I'm just teasing out if Waterford could be a successful airport under a low cost model

I think that Waterford Airport needs to market it's strengths. For example, we're told that we must arrive in Dublin at least 2 hours before take off. For 34 seater planes, surely 30 minutes before take off would be time enough? If you advertise that, it's a real incentive for people throughout the South-East to use Waterford. Unless people are actively told that there's no need to arrive at the airport until 30 minutes before take off, people might think that they need to be at the airport much earlier. I don't recall them ever marketing advantages like that previously.

Deiseen

Squidvicious wrote: »

road_high wrote: »

Is there more to that though? Maybe they're not particularly business friendly and the airlines flock to dublin instead? With the right business model I'm just teasing out if Waterford could be a successful airport under a low cost model

I think that Waterford Airport needs to market it's strengths. For example, we're told that we must arrive in Dublin at least 2 hours before take off. For 34 seater planes, surely 30 minutes before take off would be time enough? If you advertise that, it's a real incentive for people throughout the South-East to use Waterford. Unless people are actively told that there's no need to arrive at the airport until 30 minutes before take off, people might think that they need to be at the airport much earlier. I don't recall them ever marketing advantages like that previously.

I think check in still closes 45 mins before take off. I'd only aim to be in Dublin 2 hours before because of any potential issues on the way up really.

JCX BXC

Squidvicious wrote: »

I think that Waterford Airport needs to market it's strengths. For example, we're told that we must arrive in Dublin at least 2 hours before take off. For 34 seater planes, surely 30 minutes before take off would be time enough? If you advertise that, it's a real incentive for people throughout the South-East to use Waterford. Unless people are actively told that there's no need to arrive at the airport until 30 minutes before take off, people might think that they need to be at the airport much earlier. I don't recall them ever marketing advantages like that previously.

2 hours is advertised so that
1). The airport can make money in its shops, vital for all airports nowadays
2). People actually show up for the flight on time, and don't miss it due to a slow tractor on the road or a delay at security. I'd never recommend 30mins before a flight, ever. Especially checking in a bag.

Also, the suggestion that Waterford could be used as a Frankfurt Hahn type airport, 2hrs 7mins to Dublin city centre won't cut it i'm afraid. Nor will the fact that Ryanair have an absolutely massive hub in Dublin and certainly wouldn't move their flights to Waterford, especially considering they've been cutting small airports and moving to big airports lately. We should really be using realistic suggestions.

If Waterford can't sustain a low frequency, low capacity service, I see no hope for them filling an A320/737 whatsoever. You talk about knock, yet knock fills Flybe's expensive flights to Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham every day. Even Donegal sustains a flight to Glasgow several times a week.

Squidvicious

JCX BXC wrote: »

2 hours is advertised so that
1). The airport can make money in its shops, vital for all airports nowadays
2). People actually show up for the flight on time, and don't miss it due to a slow tractor on the road or a delay at security. I'd never recommend 30mins before a flight, ever. Especially checking in a bag.

Also, the suggestion that Waterford could be used as a Frankfurt Hahn type airport, 2hrs 7mins to Dublin city centre won't cut it i'm afraid. Nor will the fact that Ryanair have an absolutely massive hub in Dublin and certainly wouldn't move their flights to Waterford, especially considering they've been cutting small airports and moving to big airports lately. We should really be using realistic suggestions.

If Waterford can't sustain a low frequency, low capacity service, I see no hope for them filling an A320/737 whatsoever. You talk about knock, yet knock fills Flybe's expensive flights to Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham every day. Even Donegal sustains a flight to Glasgow several times a week.

I know that 30 minutes might seem like you're cutting it a bit fine but it's only a flight for 34 people. How long can it take? I appreciate that if you say 30 minutes some people might take the p*ss, but surely saying 45 minutes would be fine? Have you flown through the airport?

Waterford airport needs to make the most of any advantages that it has. One of those is that you don't need to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight. They don't have shops and I really can't imagine that their bar is much of a money spinner due to the low passenger numbers - how much can 34 people eat or drink? If advertising that you don't need to be at the airport until 30/45 minutes before take off would boost passenger numbers, that's surely the way to go.

Luckycharms_74

Has anyone booked flights yet ?. On the website any dates I put in shows none available.