https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/waterford-airport-runway-build-faces-delay-as-government-continues-to-assess-12m-funding/a173829816.html
Likely not happening until next year now.
Flying from waterford (I've a young family) is easily worth €200 out of my pocket.
I might book from Dublin and save the money but i would instantly regret it when it comes to the day of travel and wonder why i didn't fly from waterford.
TIME IS MONEY.
M50: Dublin motorists and people taking flights warned of severe delays after crash
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024/05/17/dublin-motorists-and-people-taking-flights-warned-of-severe-delays-after-m50-crash/
I considered using the bus from Waterford to Dublin but my return flight was late so it wouldn’t have worked for me. It also takes a long time to get there. You’re looking at 6 hours of Irish travel in total before you’ve stepped on a plane to go anywhere in Europe. 2 to get to Dublin (if you’ve been gargling holy water), 2 in the airport, 2 home again.
Where I was staying, I got a train direct to the airport (1st class, quiet carriage €20) and did some work on the train. Everything seemed so much simpler and less dependent on the place where you live being ridden of services to impress voters elsewhere.
This post demonstrates the hidden cost of getting a flight in and out of Dublin - Your Time & Well being.
I too have had to take those red eye flights - 6am where you get up at stupid o'clock to make a flight and are then home at a ridiculous hour. After a certain point in the day, you arent able to concentrate and you are running on empty ( usually the drive home- no pun intended) where if your lucky you dont fall asleep at the wheel. Booking a room at a dublin airport hotel for an early flight is usually a rip off too.
if you add up the expense of fuel, parking in Dublin Airport ( extortionate prices) and your own welfare then the admittedly higher cost of flying out of waterford was always well worth it and if fact the difference was often negligible. Thankfully most of the time the company paid for it.
There is an upper limit on the numbers of passengers who can use the airport - it's been held at 32 million since 2008. There is an application in with the local council to increase that number because they're coming very close to that upper ceiling - 31.9 million passengers used the airport last year.
Dublin Airport, and the likes of Ryanair and Aer Lingus, want to increase that cap so that they can continue to grow their passenger numbers. However, a lot of people in the area don't want the airport to get any busier as they're fed up of the traffic and the noise (the noise with the new runway seemed to be a big issue).
In the short term the airlines are limited in their ability to add new routes - or to put on special flights for things like sporting fixtures or flights to Lapland to see Santa at Christmas. In the medium term there is probably a genuine debate about how much capacity Dublin Airport can or should have.
If capacity is restricted in Dublin it'll presumably go elsewhere to the likes of Shannon and Cork who have spare capacity. People in business will find solutions rather than not doing anything about their problems.
Shannon in particular would appear well placed to hoover up a lot of the catchment around the midlands who might be using Dublin at the moment and it's a similar spin to Shannon. It's also well placed to service the tourists who want to see the west.
I don't want to stray off topic but it's probably relevant as the level of demand for travel around the country and the level of capacity to service that demand will have an inevitable impact on whatever happens in Waterford.
How will the cap at Dublin force more travel to Cork and Shannon?
Airlines aren't going to start routes from Cork and Shannon because they can't go to Dublin, they simply won't start the route and then everyone loses.
I think plenty of people in and around Dublin would be quite pleased to see less people travelling from other parts of the country. It's clogging up the roads, people living in places like Santry are finding that people are parking in residential areas due to the airport parking being full and there is an annual cap on the numbers that can fly through Dublin Airport that'll probably be reached before year end.
I suspect that cap on numbers is going to start forcing more traffic through Shannon and Cork, which seem to have plenty of spare capacity.
For what it's worth (and I know if won't suit everyone) I think the airport services provided by JJ Kavanagh's and Bus Eireann are a great option for those thinking about travelling to Dublin Airport this summer - particularly in light of the increasing cost of fuel and parking.
Yeah I have done that rodeo as well, the Myth that its a 1hr 45 min journey makes me chuckle, no doubt somebody will do a cursory google Maps search to see the amount of time the journey takes but there are other factors that skew that time.
I agree with mr Waterford in your pocket fb page time to say no votes for government parties unless we see real action on airport .
Had to fly into Europe early this morning. Left Waterford at 5:45am and got to Dublin airport for 8:15am. A dose of a drive.. stress from the start having to leave so early and then spending more time getting from Rathcoole to the airport than it took to get from Waterford to Rathcoole.
I’d have paid twice the cost to fly from Waterford. Those that say Dublin is the only show in town are having a laugh. Waterford would be financially viable with the right flights. Plenty of terrified Cork/Dublin loyalists making sure the less entitled don’t get services that would cause them to lose money or status.
Meanwhile I’ll be driving home from Dublin at stupid o’clock after the flight home.
Bring on the Waterford runway.
Your post emanates from some hole or other.
Waterford could be a stop off point on the way to Rwanda.
A key feature of the airport issue is the exhaustion of political bullshit on the issue.
With FF and Greens in the 2007-11 era the runway was originally promised, FG have consistently said they want to see it happen, in PfG as part of the Halligan deal, Greens have said they are not opposed. Bullshit (after Harry Frankfurt- On Bullshit - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit ) is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. All of the parties have said they want it, Greens (2007-2011) FF (2011-2011; C&S 2016-2020; 2020+) and FG (2011+) have not made it happen.
Basically, the runway is under construction before the end of this Government; or these political parties have simply and, in a very pure way, bullshitted the people of the South East for almost 20 years.
Kerry airport is less than 60 miles either way to both cork and Shannon airport yet they're booming with daily flights to Britain,Spain and Germany.
Were talking about a full region here with no airport thus stifling massive growth in both investment and tourism.
Take your ignorant comments elsewhere.
Waterford has been subjected to all the negatives of globalisation - loss of manufacturing, ghetto formation, low wage economy, rentier exploitation etc; but one of the very few advantages, that of travel and connectivity, you judge Waterford should be without.
Turns out Government is in agreement with you - you're not connected are you?
That was the excuse given to deny Waterford 34/7 cardiology. The second word is off!
Ah here, it's only an hour from Dungarven to Cork airport and it's only an hour and 45 minutes from Waterford to the largest airport on the island and one of the 15 largest in Europe. And there's a motorway the whole way. Nobody's keeping anyone apart from anyone.
Finger pointing mode in overdrive.
FF chose to get into bed with the eco-zealots so that's on them.
Approaching half a year of messing around, Government are still choosing to keep family and friends apart.
The only region in the country without access to mass aviation - it's Government view that the South East and Waterford is somehow lesser and undeserving of parity.
Week 21 - where's the cash?
Excuse my ignorance to politics but regarding Cynthia Ní Mhurchú last time I checked FF made up the government already, so why can they not just go ahead with this now and stop leaving a small minority (the greens) control this. She is pitching this as if they are in opposition now trying to get into power, maybe i don't understand the ins and outs , I just want to be able to fly to Luton and Birmingham is all locally. 🤣
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/waterford/news/ryanair-boss-michael-oleary-urged-to-explore-using-waterford-airport-as-a-hub/a1201557765.html
interesting article
She is just picking a relevant topic in each of the Counties where she is looking for votes, she doesn't give a monkeys about the airport.
Ah here! Commerical.
A FF candidate. Not as if they are in Government already and can open it at the click of their fingers if they want
FFS!
Cynthia a European candidate backing the airport
A giant turnip.
Theres no mention of bikes so he's physically unable to read that.
https://www.gov.ie/en/role/8bca1-assistant-secretary-aviation/
Pity the assistant secretary in Dept of Transport wouldn't remind him what his duties are
The Assistant Secretary for Aviation is responsible for:
Ryan has announced the site of the designated zone for wind farms off the Waterford and South Wexford coasts. It’s probably safe to assume he was going to unveil this at a photo op down here when someone pointed out he would be asked about the airport. Thus the sharp exit stage right…….
We have a better chance of getting a space shuttle site than Ryan approving anything other than the demolition of the airport.
The Council are elected public representatives and they're hoping to put public money into the project (despite the CEO seemingly saying he'd probably prefer not to be involved in it), and they have two seats on the board of directors.
I'm just trying to confirm if they've actually decided to agree to the business plan 4-5 months after it was submitted, or what have they actually agreed with.
