Kerry Airport - News & Updates

technocrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120720402#Comment_120720402

Close proximity would work say a 30 or 45mins gap but exactly at the same time - No.

There isn’t even enough seating at the departures gates not to mention security scanner capacity!

lordleitrim

Flight schedules have to consider the availability of slots of airports at the end destinations tòo so often Kerry (a quiet airport) will have to bend to whatever landing slots are available at much busier airports like Dublin, Stansted etc which is why some flights seem bunched together. Also for a small airport, it's not viable to have a full complement of staff from 5am to 11pm to enable spacing out of flights which is why they tend to depart in a narrower time frame that a core staff base will be available for.

Saying that, I can't see how KIR can offer many more new commercial flights within the small existing constraints of its current pre and post security waiting areas. Is expansion of the terminal even on the horizon? What is the max pax capacity of the current terminal? I believe it may see up to 400k pax this year which would be a record.

Below is what the airport website advises. While 2 hours seems excessive, especially if you are not checking in luggage, the "boarding gates close 30 minutes before departure" is standard at every airport so I'd give yourself 45 minutes if you have checked in online and have carry on luggage only.

Check-in

The check-in area at Kerry Airport is located in the main concourse. We recommend that passengers arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before the scheduled departure of their flight. Be advised that the Boarding Gates will close at 30 minutes before departure time and passengers may be refused boarding after this deadline as per your airline booking conditions

technocrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120722418#Comment_120722418

There is currently only about a half dozen departing flights a day even in summer peak and all between the hours of 9am - 6pm.

It would make more business sense for the airport operator if flights didn’t depart at the same times as they could take in more revenue at the bar and restaurant.

There is parts of the day where the staff are just standing around when the departures board is empty and then a mad dash when 2 flights are leaving at 11am or 6pm.

Masala

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120724270#Comment_120724270

Don’t think regional airports like Kerry have much choice or say on departure times. I reckon they got to take what they given or else lose the flight.

marno21

https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/new-sun-destination-among-several-new-routes-to-be-announced-for-kerry-airport-337289

Airport expecting a new sun route to be announced.

The talk of the American route is pie in the sky imo.

JCX BXC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120780845#Comment_120780845

An American route! Really takes away from the credibility of the rest of the article.

Would be nice to see more routes of any description though! Ryanair have announced a new sun route for Knock and 2 for Cork, so it's entirely plausible.

Chris_5339762

The problem with Kerry is that the poor security guard then has to go and man the bar once he's scanned everyone

lordleitrim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781416#Comment_120781416

And haul their luggage onto the plane!

Seriously, this is promising news for KIR. My money is on Lanzarote as the sun route, as anecdotally that seems to be a very popular sun holiday with many that I know in Kerry. As they said routes plural ,I wonder would Emerald consider a couple of unserved UK provincial destinations? Edinburgh and Birmingham seem like obvious and viable choices.

Agreed they should've kept the sensationalism of a possible US flight out of the press release as its just pie in the sky speculation and what people will now focus on regardless of whether its a reality or not....

embraer170

Anyone know where one might get a copy of Kerry airport's annual report?

Shank Williams

How can Ryanair make money on flying a half empty Boeing 737 from Kerry to Dublin- 1st time taking an internal flight in a while recently and couldn’t believe it when I was boarding- assumed it would be a propeller job-assume it’s a subsidy job and they’ll ditch at first opportunity they get?

Masala

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120790180#Comment_120790180

No subsidy on this Route. Ryanair told Éamon Ryan that they could run the route twice a day every day without any government subsidies. They on route now since July 2021.. close to 2 years now and don’t seem to be going anywhere. Have used it loads it times and always big loads.

JCX BXC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120790180#Comment_120790180

No subsidy, Ryanair run the service commercially.

embraer170

Crazy day at the airport today. I don't think I have ever seen it so busy.

The first Quimper/Brest flight got in 15 minutes minutes late and is still on the ground almost 1.5hrs after the scheduled departure time. Not clear what the problem is. Two other scheduled flights were on turn around at the same time: Ryanair 737-800s from Dublin and Stansted.

I also counted seven private aircraft, mostly large business jets: a Bombarder Global 6000, the two Hogs Head Gulfstreams, another Gulfstream, a Dassault Falcon, a jet I couldn't identify, and a single engined piston.

embraer170

In terms of the promised new sun route for 2024, I am guessing it could be Girona, Mallorca or Malaga. I see Lanzarote or another Canary island as less likely, but you never know.

Chalair to Brittany was certainly a surprise. It would be good to see it running next year too

lordleitrim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120790180#Comment_120790180

The loads on individual flights seem to fluctuate considerably. My sister was on a full flight to DUB recently on a Friday but my brother was on a less than 20% full flight midweek last month. According to CSO, approx 80k passengers flew the DUB route in 2022 so divide that by 365 days and 4 flights a day (2 each way) works out on average at about 55 pax per flight. I'm not sure exactly how many seats are on those particular planes (180 maybe) but is that slightly less than 33% load? It does make you question commercial viability alright...

Bear in mind the 2022 statistic is probably skewed downwards as it includes Jan 2022 which was still in essence a lockdown month and it really took until summer before pax numbers recovered to more normal figures. I expect 2023 numbers to be much better so will be interesting to see the stats for this summer later in the year from CSO.

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120791391#Comment_120791391

Open to correction but I think in early 2022 it dropped to 1 per day.

yerwanthere123

I'd completely forgotten about the new Kerry/Quimper/Brest route that started recently. Anyone have any idea how it's doing?

embraer170

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120906183#Comment_120906183

No idea about the loads but there seems to be an issue in getting the flight in/out on time. There hasn't been one Saturday since launch when it hasn’t been at least an hour late leaving.

embraer170

This Saturday’s Quimper flight is almost booked out in both directions (2 seats for sale inbound, 1 outbound). Maybe a reasonably good sign?

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120963095#Comment_120963095

Hopefully. It's probably a better route for French than Irish people, I'd imagine.

Quaderno

This week planning permission for a new arrivals hall and a major extension of the existing facilities has been granted. This is the most significant expansion since the airport opened.

Source: https://www.eplanning.ie/KerryCC/AppFileRefDetails/221054/0

Chris_5339762

The current one is basically the side of your average garden shed, so this will be a huge improvement.

embraer170

Excellent news for the airport. I recall the idea of an extension was already put forward in the late 1990s. There was even a mockup in the checkin area for a few months.

It would have been nice to see whole new and modern terminal / apron between hangars 1 and 2, but the new arrivals hall is probably far more realistic given the capital available. There is also a third departure gate (where the present baggage claim area is) and a sizeable airside restaurant, with an open air terrace (for smokers?). I guess the departures area could be further reconfigured in the future with a slightly expanded duty free shop for example.

lordleitrim

https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/kerry-airport-granted-planning-permission-for-significant-extension-and-new-departure-gate-343551

Some media reporting on this. Great news for the airport! Hopefully we'll see quite a few new route announcements to complement this!

mike2084

I'd love a Kerry to Dublin flight at say 7am and returning at 6pm? I'd certainly use it as I'm up in Dublin a few times a month for work, would be better than sitting on a train/bus for up to 4 hours. The current timetable of departing at 10:30a.m. and returning at 4:30pm is no use for work or meetings. Wishful thinking I suppose but I can always dream!

Sikpupi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121248181#Comment_121248181

I guess it comes down to costs for the Airport and whether Ryanair will pay for the additional costs associated with opening at 5am for a 7am departure....

Lots of people very happy with the current times... I have met people going to concerts /matches etc and find an 11am suits them great. The 'loss' of the business people on the route seems to be taken up by Students / Families / Friends etc .. all happy to be getting up and down for €40 !!! I read somewhere that there are now more people using the flight than when it was operating as a PSO with Stobart..

My young lad uses it on weekend to come home and says that its 'nearly full' every Friday night and Monday morning....... but wouldn't pay the €90 /€100/ €120 return it cost on Stobart when they were on it.

JCX BXC

Problem is aircraft isn't based in Kerry, its based in Dublin. With the restricted hours Kerry operates on it would make no sense to base an aircraft there, similar situation at Knock.

Unfortunately it won't change with Ryanair.

lordleitrim

https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/ryanair-announces-winter-23-24-schedule-for-kerry/

No new routes for Kerry in the winter season press release. I had hoped for one Canary Island sun route (Knock got both Lanzarote and Tenerife for winter) as there had been talk earlier this year of an imminent sun route for KIR. Maybe we have to wait for Summer 2024?

JCX BXC

I think I heard/read before it's uneconomical to run those routes from Kerry as the runway restricts payload. Runway is only 2000m. Could be horse as well!

embraer170

2000m is normally enough given the max temps.

Yes, no sign of the promised new routes unfortunately. It would have been too late to announce them for this winter anyway.