Waterford Airport.

11 weeks

They get a lot of private traffic like that.

😮 really ??

Anyone know what will happen with the aero club and stuff when the work on the runway starts(assuming it ever will)? Will they just stop temporarily for the duration of the work?

Now 12 weeks of complete inertia from government on this matter.

Government is a collective Cabinet, meaning the rest of them don't seem bothered either. Euro-country-manager Varadkar pops-up and acts all interested every so often but that's about it.

Isn't it amazing he found time to then counter argue Michael O'Leary on Dublin Airport?

He even stated that priority should be given to other airports - all the while not bothering to do anything about WAT.

Kicking the can down the road under the pretence of progressing the project. They will keep asking questions or referring it for another cost or business case review until they kill it.

Anyone who has prepared or reviewed a business case knows that they are always full of holes, and that basically you want to have a punt or not. The case is strong, but with risks and requires tiny sums of money. In 2007 Govt was prepared to put up €25m for the runway project at WAT. Govt need to press the button- they would if it was Cork or Dublin, public servants ask questions rather than say no.

With respect, I haven't a clue what's in their business case and you probably don't either.

I was expressing a view a few weeks back that I think they would probably be looking to support this type of project where possible, notwithstanding the possible reservations regarding environmental issues and the level of spare capacity in the other airports.

But there seems to be a view regularly conveyed here by some people that the project should just be rubber stamped double quick now because the airport eventually got around to submitting the thing after a hell of a long time working on it.

I don't think it would be unreasonable for a proposal to be fully scrutinised and I think you have to be open to the possibility that there might be a lot of gaps in the information provided that has to be worked through. Maybe the airport took so long finalising the business case because it's actually a fairly complex proposal that's going to take some time to work through - but as I say - I haven't seen the thing.

12 million is peanuts in this context, it shouldn't really require all these business cases and reviews that have been done over the last few years, especially if there are investors putting in the other 12 million.

The government has money for everything. Yet there is no scrutiny of how these funds seemed to be spent. Ryan doesn’t want this development and that’s the problem. Our Green TD is gone come the next election and Butler needs to be careful as she is in coalition with the Greens. Voters are watching. The money here is tiny in terms of government budgets.

Have you seen the country of late? 23 million just wasted now on a referendum nobody wanted. But hey what would I know?

Week 13. A quarter of a year.

Lots of hot air but no money.

Latest from the Deputy Minister for Cork Coveney: ""It needs Government support," continued Minister Simon Coveney," I know the Business Case is being analysed at the moment, and I have been to Waterford Airport on several occasions. "I think it is an important part of the Economy, not just for Waterford, but for the Southeast. "I think the Government needs to support it and we will." (https://www.wlrfm.com/news/questions-on-waterford-investment-put-to-government-officials-351300)

Talks about 'Government' in the third person, which is what you do to distance yourself from something.

People post as though this would be some kind of one-off payment from the government and the place will somehow just operate with no ongoing costs if it ever gets done. There are huge annual costs associated with maintaining a 737 capable runway, there are huge annual costs associated with operating a small commercial airport that facilitates aircraft of this size. The idea that the Government would be able to just hand over a one off payment and then walk away is for the birds.

What's almost certainly being requested here is a commitment to provide millions in funding year on year to reopen a commercial airport for a region that is already in relatively close proximity to the two biggest airports in the state. Even leaving aside that something like this would pretty much go against everything the greens stand for, it's understandable that any government would have significant reservations about this project.