Regional Airports

20-09-2010 10:07pm #1

What is the future of the Galway, Kerry, Donegal, Derry airports now that the road infrastructure has improved? (well bar to the nortwest)

Looks like a cloud hanging over Derry, which would be bad news for Donegal

http://www.highlandradio.com/2010/09/20/hanafin-promises-to-defend-derry-dublin-air-link-at-cabinet-table/

Will the govt keep the PSO routes in place?

Chris_5339762 · 20-09-2010 10:21pm

Galway should go.
Waterford should go.
Derry should go.

Knock maybe should stay as it serves a reasonably large catchment and is in the right location to serve the northwest.

Really we only need Cork, Dublin, Shannon and Knock under those rules. Even Shannon will be only a 'maybe' if the M20 is done.

L1011 · 20-09-2010 10:29pm

Waterford's future depends on whether they or Dublin win the war of mindshare now they're both a lot easier to access from most of the south east. It doesn't get PSO as it stands.

Galway is entirely doomed. Kerry is almost doomed, improvements to the N21 etc will be its deathknell. Sligo is doomed already, I've no idea how its held on to its PSO.

Donegal, Shannon, Cork and Knock will likely survive for the time being.

Cakes. · 20-09-2010 10:29pm

If they build that new airport in Westmeath and improve the infrastructure around the west and north west then there is no need for the smaller ones over that way.

If they expand Shannon and improve the infrastructure down there it would eliminate the need for the ones down there.

Maybe building train lines to the major ones ( ie Shannon, Dublin and (if they build it) Westmeath) it would almost defenitly abolish the need for a few of the smaller ones.

L1011 · 20-09-2010 10:30pm

Cakesofrice wrote: »

If they build that new airport in Westmeath and improve the infrastructure around the west and north west then there is no need for the smaller ones over that way.

If they expand Shannon and improve the infrastructure down there it would eliminate the need for the ones down there.

Maybe building train lines to the major ones ( ie Shannon, Dublin and (if they build it) Westmeath) it would almost defenitly abolish the need for a few of the smaller ones.

The Westmeath one is dreaming, it won't happen

What expansion does Shannon need? Its already grossly under capacity.

Cakes. · 20-09-2010 11:12pm

MYOB wrote: »

The Westmeath one is dreaming, it won't happen

What expansion does Shannon need? Its already grossly under capacity.

If they were to do away with some of the smaller airports in the south region. It would increase the amount of people using Shannon.

L1011 · 20-09-2010 11:16pm

Cakesofrice wrote: »

If they were to do away with some of the smaller airports in the south region. It would increase the amount of people using Shannon.

It has the capacity to deal with the entire western region using it already, tbh.

oharach · 21-09-2010 12:33am

salonfire wrote: »

What is the future of the Galway, Kerry, Donegal, Derry airports now that the road infrastructure has improved? (well bar to the nortwest)

Looks like a cloud hanging over Derry, which would be bad news for Donegal

http://www.highlandradio.com/2010/09/20/hanafin-promises-to-defend-derry-dublin-air-link-at-cabinet-table/

Derry should probably stay at the expense of Donegal, since it's an actual city, and not just a 'catchment area', like Knock.

However, if the future of Derry is in the least bit doubtful, why oh why did they just dual the A2 from the city to the airport. It looked a pretty marginal case for dualling anyway, and if you take out the airport traffic, it's not even that strategic.

http://wesleyjohnston.com/roads/a2maydowndualling.html

dowlingm · 21-09-2010 3:06am

I have advocated for years that as an ETOPS24 airport and its proximity to the ocean Shannon should be the Air Corps' main base (their Haulbowline). Ideally this would involve resurfacing 13/31.

Sligo - close it. It needs a runway extension and there's no money for that even if the intended site wasn't wetlands.
Carrickfin - keep the PSO
Knock - withdraw the PSO
Galway - withdraw the PSO
Kerry - withdraw the PSO
Waterford - they have no PSO - some marketing funds but no runway extension.
Derry - withdraw the PSO.

AngryLips · 21-09-2010 10:03am

I say get rid of Kerry, Shannon, Knock, and Donegal. What's the point?

Zebra3 · 21-09-2010 10:29am

AngryLips wrote: »

I say get rid of Kerry, Shannon, Knock, and Donegal. What's the point?

Local egos?

21-09-2010 11:33am

I don't see Galway surviving - I haven't used it in ages and the road to Shannon makes that far more attractive.

Also with Aer Arann in trouble you wonder would new owners keep all routes.

Some of the Luton-Galway flights are full, some are empty.

Dick Turnip · 21-09-2010 1:13pm

AngryLips wrote: »

I say get rid of Kerry, Shannon, Knock, and Donegal. What's the point?

You're clearly trolling but anyway.....so that people on the western seaboard don't have a 4/5 hour drive to dublin airport? is that a valid reason or concept?

i'd agree with getting rid of Kerry & Donegal (if Derry is kept) but surely there's some merit in keeping Shannon(south & south west regions) and Knock (west & north west regions)

AngryLips · 21-09-2010 2:31pm

There is too much overlap in catchment between the airports I mentioned with that of Cork, Galway and Sligo. Closing them would address that IMO

jimmycrackcorm · 21-09-2010 2:37pm

The Derry PSO should be kept until the new A5 dual carriageway is built.

Stinicker · 21-09-2010 11:31pm

Kerry Airport will always be needed until such case as Tralee is connected to Limerick and Killarney by either Motorway or 2X2, the N22 Ballvourney Ballincollig scheme needs to get moving and Kerry airport also serves a large portion of West Cork and West Limerick also. It provides a vital Business link with flights to Dublin and helps drive Kerry's Tourism oriented economy as it brings Tourists directly into Kerry.

Kerry Airport is vital and will not be closed.

coolperson05 · 22-09-2010 1:16am

I think that Sligo and Galway could definitely go. They will hopefully, with the M18/M17, have greater access to Shannon which should be promoted much better than it is at the moment. As with Kerry, with a good road, it wouldn't be needed either with Cork/Shannon around. Waterford could act as a helping hand to Dublin with the great travel times. Let Ryanair set up their base in Waterford (provided they get the runway extension) and Waterford is approx 1.5 - 2hours from Cork, Dublin and Limerick. Otherwise, close Waterford and just push Shannon which I believe has brilliant potential and is wasting away which money is pumped into the likes of Sligo-Dublin, etc. We probably don't have the travellers for more than Cork, Dublin, Shannon and maybe Knock atm.

dowlingm · 22-09-2010 1:46pm

Don't some Aran Island flights operate from Galway at the moment? I seem to remember a begging bowl thing for funds for a strip west of the city so those flights could go from there.

dowlingm · 22-09-2010 1:47pm

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The Derry PSO should be kept until the new A5 dual carriageway is built.

Until it is under the Republic's jurisdiction, no. Improve the road from CFN to east Donegal by all means.

dubhthach · 22-09-2010 2:08pm

dowlingm wrote: »

Don't some Aran Island flights operate from Galway at the moment? I seem to remember a begging bowl thing for funds for a strip west of the city so those flights could go from there.

The flights to Árann go from the airstrip in Indreabhán, as far as I know they haven't flown from Galway in several years (if not longer)

serfboard · 22-09-2010 3:49pm

Good thread.

IMO, M20+M18/17 = close Galway and Shannon, but defo Galway first. Close Sligo, Donegal and Waterford. Improved N22 will close Kerry.

For 32 counties and roughly 6 million dispersed people leave

Belfast (does it need two airports? - close the city one), Dublin, Cork, Knock, Derry, and if any more needs closing start with the ones at the end of the list the first to go.

If this budget is to mean anything, closing PSOs has to feature. Galway first (due to the M6).

oharach · 22-09-2010 5:00pm

coolperson05 wrote: »

We probably don't have the travellers for more than Cork, Dublin, Shannon and maybe Knock atm.

serfboard wrote: »

Belfast (does it need two airports? - close the city one), Dublin, Cork, Knock, Derry, and if any more needs closing start with the ones at the end of the list the first to go.

Serfboard, you suggested that Derry could hypothetically be shut before Knock. Coolperson, you seemed to also support keeping Knock.

Where is Knock supposed to serve? It is nowhere..

Why should we shut Galway or Shannon (Limerick) and expect people from those cities to travel for 2+ hours to Dublin, while the very sparsely populated Northwest has its own international airport.. it's just nonsensical imo.

Lifelike · 22-09-2010 5:45pm

I agree with Stinicker above. Kerry airport won't be shut as it's seen significant investment from Ryanair over the past year, with new routes to Germany, Spain and Portugal. However, Sligo is doomed as its' sole route goes to Dublin

veryangryman · 22-09-2010 8:43pm

oharach wrote: »

Serfboard, you suggested that Derry could hypothetically be shut before Knock. Coolperson, you seemed to also support keeping Knock.

Where is Knock supposed to serve? It is nowhere..

Why should we shut Galway or Shannon (Limerick) and expect people from those cities to travel for 2+ hours to Dublin, while the very sparsely populated Northwest has its own international airport.. it's just nonsensical imo.

Youll go to Knock and youll like it! :mad:

Seriously though, i cant see any transatlantic traffic moving to Knock. I also really cant see the point in every poor feck having to go to Dublin to get to the States. As some posters point out, Shannon has alot of potential.

Actually TBH pre-recession nobody was crying about any of our airports being a waste. What happens if or when we close some and then get out of recession. They would never return. All your doing here is taking jobs from the areas.

fricatus · 22-09-2010 10:13pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Galway should go.
Waterford should go.
Derry should go.

serfboard wrote: »

close Galway and Shannon. Close Sligo, Donegal and Waterford.

Why would we close any of our airports? That would be economic vandalism of the highest order. Sounds like something out of one of Mao's Five Year Plans!

Definitely the PSOs make no sense now (apart from maybe Donegal, Derry and Kerry), so they should go, and then let the market sort things out.

Just to comment on Waterford, mainly because it's the only one I know much about: I'm not sure about its ownership structure, but I don't think it receives any ongoing state support, other than some small marketing grants. It probably also receives rents from hosting the coastguard base, but that would be about it.

It certainly doesn't benefit from any PSO, so whatever little state money goes into it is far outweighed by the economic benefits accruing to the south-east.

I would have a few questions therefore for those asking for Waterford and other airports to be "closed", such as:
- How exactly would you achieve their closure?
- How would such closures benefit the economy?
- What would you do with the coastguard base once the airport and ancillary services are closed?

mk6705 · 22-09-2010 10:41pm

As above, I don't think Kerry is in any trouble at all. The facts are the N22 and N21 are pretty bad, and won't be upgraded for a while. I don't think that'd be a huge threat, however.
Cutbacks at Shannon have so far proved to be Kerry's gain. In a newspaper article (I presume this is true) Michael O'Leary (Whether he's playing games or not is fairly irrelevant) said that they carry more passengers through Kerry than Shannon.
Tourism can also play a key part in keeping this airport open, and I believe this will grow in coming years.
It's making a profit. I think it'd survive without the P.S.O. because Kerry to Dublin is probably the least used route at the airport.
An improved N21 would improve access to Limerick.

xper · 23-09-2010 2:23am

fricatus wrote: »

Why would we close any of our airports? ...
I would have a few questions therefore for those asking for Waterford and other airports to be "closed", such as:
- How exactly would you achieve their closure?
- How would such closures benefit the economy?
- What would you do with the coastguard base once the airport and ancillary services are closed?

I have to concur. Some people seem to think that these airports are all publicly owned. They're not. PSOs are awarded to the airlines operating the specified routes, not the airport. Obviously, yes, if an airport's revenue is heavily dependent on a PSO route then it may face significant cutbacks in staff and services if that route's funding is withdrawn and you can make the case for and against that based on the benefit to the areas concerned versus the cost of the PSO provision. Some airports such as Kerry have commercial operations that are not PSO supported so the laws of supply and demand are clearly not totally against them. All these airports also generate income from non-airline operations (coastguard, general aviation, etc). There are plenty of airfields around the country that operate without any passenger services so if a PSO is withdrawn, the airport affecetd will not automatically need to disappear from the face of the earth.

Neworder79 · 23-09-2010 11:26am

fricatus wrote: »

Just to comment on Waterford, mainly because it's the only one I know much about: I'm not sure about its ownership structure, but I don't think it receives any ongoing state support, other than some small marketing grants.

Waterford like all the other regional airports does receive capital grants for infrastructure and the Core Airports Operational Expenditure Subvention Scheme, which is awarded to loss making airports, €1,494,000 for Waterford in 2009 to pay for running ATC and airport services. This is the main annual subsidy to regional airports operation (with the exception of Kerry and Ireland West which were profitable for several years up to 2008 and did not apply).

You're right that Waterford hasn't become dependent on the PSO for it's survival like Galway/Sligo/Donegal. But it's sole operator is Aer Arran who have up to now been cross subsidising it's commercial operations through the PSO grants.

PSO made some sense when access to remote regions was very poor, but road and rail links are much improved in most cases and not justifiable now on cost and need basis. Whether the minister will have the bottle to go up against local interests is another thing, this years budget might settle the debate finally.

There are many misconceptions about airports funding in this country due to the muddled aviation policy and lack of transparency in awarding funding. The reality is airports are costly to run and most can't operate without some form of subvention. Lets not forget the 3 state airports are directly funded and despite large commercial operations have debts of €616m which is far in excess of .

highlydebased · 23-09-2010 2:01pm

Adro947 wrote: »

As above, I don't think Kerry is in any trouble at all. The facts are the N22 and N21 are pretty bad, and won't be upgraded for a while. I don't think that'd be a huge threat, however.
Cutbacks at Shannon have so far proved to be Kerry's gain. In a newspaper article (I presume this is true) Michael O'Leary (Whether he's playing games or not is fairly irrelevant) said that they carry more passengers through Kerry than Shannon.
Tourism can also play a key part in keeping this airport open, and I believe this will grow in coming years.
It's making a profit. I think it'd survive without the P.S.O. because Kerry to Dublin is probably the least used route at the airport.
An improved N21 would improve access to Limerick.

Well seeing as they operated more flights from Kerry this summer it was going to be true...considering anyone in the general Limerick/Shannon area had to drive to Kerry and fly from a shack instead!

Ryanair is cutting back at Kerry now, seemingly removing the base because the PSO is not being renewed. One flight daily to Dublin with Stansted, Luton and Hahn remaining.

mk6705 · 23-09-2010 6:32pm

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Well seeing as they operated more flights from Kerry this summer it was going to be true...considering anyone in the general Limerick/Shannon area had to drive to Kerry and fly from a shack instead!

Ryanair is cutting back at Kerry now, seemingly removing the base because the PSO is not being renewed. One flight daily to Dublin with Stansted, Luton and Hahn remaining.

A shack? It's a fairly small, well-kept building, not a shack. I assume your source is the Irish times, that's a bit misleading. The flights mentioned are the flights that go every day. There are still flights to Faro, Alicante and Weeze (Only talking about Ryanair here) and personally I believe there will be more routes added before the year is out.

Also, the fact that they're still running one flight (the most used by far) shows that they still believe it's viable without the PSO.

highlydebased · 23-09-2010 7:17pm

Adro947 wrote: »

A shack? It's a fairly small, well-kept building, not a shack. I assume your source is the Irish times, that's a bit misleading. The flights mentioned are the flights that go every day. There are still flights to Faro, Alicante and Weeze (Only talking about Ryanair here) and personally I believe there will be more routes added before the year is out.

Also, the fact that they're still running one flight (the most used by far) shows that they still believe it's viable without the PSO.

No, there's a Ryanair press release. No other routes are bookable after October apart from the above mentioned ones.

The Minister for Transport has refused to honour the PSO contract which requires him to increase payments to reflect the Govt tourist tax and the Govt imposed increase in DAA and ATC charges which have added an extra €19 per passenger on the Kerry-Dublin route. Ryanair will now operate this route on a commercial basis without any PSO subsidy thereby saving the taxpayer almost €2 million p.a. Ryanair again calls for an ending to these PSO subsidies under which tiny passenger numbers receive enormous taxpayer subsidies to fund vastly inflated charges at Irish regional airports.
Ryanair will, from 31st October, switch its Kerry based aircraft to another EU base where Govts are reducing airport fees and welcoming tourists instead of taxing them. Ryanair will, from 31st October, continue to operate four routes from Kerry to Dublin, Frankfurt Hahn, London Luton and London Stansted.”

mk6705 · 23-09-2010 7:51pm

Neon-Circles wrote: »

No, there's a Ryanair press release. No other routes are bookable after October apart from the above mentioned ones.

Jaysus. That's pretty bad. Sorry for doubting you and all.

highlydebased · 23-09-2010 8:07pm

Adro947 wrote: »

Jaysus. That's pretty bad. Sorry for doubting you and all.

I'd say its very probable that at least one or two sun flights will operate again next summer, so its a bit of a non event for him to go ranting and raving about Kerry being expensive etc etc! After all he doesnt need a base in Kerry- there are bases in Faro, Alicante etc now

Stinicker · 23-09-2010 8:10pm

Is Dusseldorf Weeze dead in the water so?

highlydebased · 23-09-2010 8:29pm

Stinicker wrote: »

Is Dusseldorf Weeze dead in the water so?

It is. Though it carried a reasonable amount of traffic from Shannon generally though winter.... 70% plus

Stinicker · 23-09-2010 8:33pm

Neon-Circles wrote: »

It is. Though it carried a reasonable amount of traffic from Shannon generally though winter.... 70% plus

Bugger was going to fly in there sometime next year. Weeze will now be totally unreachable from Ireland with this move as Kerry was the last link to it.

munchkin_utd · 23-09-2010 11:42pm

aerlingus flys from Dublin to Dusseldorf proper, rather than weeze which is nowhere near the city anyhow.

Stinicker · 24-09-2010 12:31am

munchkin_utd wrote: »

aerlingus flys from Dublin to Dusseldorf proper, rather than weeze which is nowhere near the city anyhow.

I live in Kerry so it would have much handier, Kerry to Dublin and the large fee by Aer Lingus means to go now would be triple the cost and as much travelling time as if I went to New York. Dusseldorf 2011 just got the long finger I think.

mk6705 · 24-09-2010 12:34am

Stinicker wrote: »

I live in Kerry so it would have much handier, Kerry to Dublin and the large fee by Aer Lingus means to go now would be triple the cost and as much travelling time as if I went to New York. Dusseldorf 2011 just got the long finger I think.

Kerry to Stanstead then Stanstead to Weeze might work.

munchkin_utd · 24-09-2010 9:20am

almost back on topic...

Ryanair are now saying that principal major airports might actually have some use in the world now

Ryanair is looking at opening routes to all major European airports bar the top three as slowing growth prompts the region’s top discount carrier to modify a strategy based on flying only to less-costly terminals.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ryanair-chief-orsquoleary-plans-shift-to-major-airports-2350499.html

The shift in philosopy moving away from serving a shed up to hundreds of miles from any major centres of population surely doesn't bode well for Ireland regional airports.
(dublin and cork being the only major centres of population in the republic)

KenHy · 24-09-2010 11:08am

The choice of airport locations was always odd, the larger ones (in the west) being at Shanonn and Knock (smaller towns) makes it inevitable that other regions will have (just) enough demand to keep an airport in other places. The sensible places to have airports would be Dublin (serving the same role as now), Cork (for the south including Kerry and Waterford), Galway (for the West/midWest), Derry (for the North West) and Belfast.

Nobody would be more than 2 hours from an airport and each of them would have a decent catchment area.

veryangryman · 24-09-2010 12:21pm

KenHy wrote: »

The choice of airport locations was always odd, the larger ones (in the west) being at Shanonn and Knock (smaller towns) makes it inevitable that other regions will have (just) enough demand to keep an airport in other places. The sensible places to have airports would be Dublin (serving the same role as now), Cork (for the south including Kerry and Waterford), Galway (for the West/midWest), Derry (for the North West) and Belfast.

Nobody would be more than 2 hours from an airport and each of them would have a decent catchment area.

Yeah, feck the midlands. Not as if the people there exist/matter

Athlone is the furthest possible nook of the country from any airport. 90 mins to Dublin/Knock, more to Shannon

I dont think that 2 hours to an airport is a reasonable time either. Definitely each airport needs better road/rail) infrastructure to them or if thats not forthcoming (i cant ever see an airport outside Dublin having direct rail links - please dont mention the technicality of Kerry!) then this midlands airport may gather legs.

On the other hand (just to have a balanced view), our roads are already overspecced for polulation. Dublin now has constant bus service Trams and a 3 lane bypass just like similar size places in UK (Sheffield/Leeds/Nottingham). Upgrades are planned too

We really arent that badly off.

oharach · 24-09-2010 3:31pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Yeah, feck the midlands. Not as if the people there exist/matter

Athlone is the furthest possible nook of the country from any airport. 90 mins to Dublin/Knock, more to Shannon

I dont think that 2 hours to an airport is a reasonable time either. Definitely each airport needs better road/rail) infrastructure to them or if thats not forthcoming (i cant ever see an airport outside Dublin having direct rail links - please dont mention the technicality of Kerry!) then this midlands airport may gather legs.

On the other hand (just to have a balanced view), our roads are already overspecced for polulation. Dublin now has constant bus service Trams and a 3 lane bypass just like similar size places in UK (Sheffield/Leeds/Nottingham). Upgrades are planned too

We really arent that badly off.

I'm sorry, but that comment is way off.

1. Athlone has less than 20,000 people. You can't have an airport. Sorry. You are 90 mins from one of the best served airports in Europe. Yes, there are some more undeserving candidates who have airports (Knock, Donegal), but we won't be making those mistakes again. How do you want the infrastructure improved from Athlone to the Airport? It's already motorway or DC the whole way! Long term, widening the motorway to Maynooth should be on the cards, however.

2. Of course Dublin has 'constant' bus services - it's hardly going to be a part-time operation. There are two tram lines, they don't even join, and no more will be built realistically in the next 10 years. We can only hope that MN and DU still go ahead.

3. Sheffield/Leeds/Nottingham are just not comparable. The biggest (Sheffield) has an urban area of around 600,000. Dublin is well over a million.

highlydebased · 24-09-2010 4:17pm

KenHy wrote: »

The choice of airport locations was always odd, the larger ones (in the west) being at Shanonn and Knock (smaller towns) makes it inevitable that other regions will have (just) enough demand to keep an airport in other places. The sensible places to have airports would be Dublin (serving the same role as now), Cork (for the south including Kerry and Waterford), Galway (for the West/midWest), Derry (for the North West) and Belfast.

Nobody would be more than 2 hours from an airport and each of them would have a decent catchment area.

Well Shannon was not built to serve Shannon town or Limerick or whatever, it was built almost solely as a stopover point in the bygone days when aircraft didnt have the range to cross the ocean non stop. A little unique in that regard

dubhthach · 24-09-2010 5:17pm

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Well Shannon was not built to serve Shannon town or Limerick or whatever, it was built almost solely as a stopover point in the bygone days when aircraft didnt have the range to cross the ocean non stop. A little unique in that regard

Well given that Foynes was just across the river from it and was the current location for trans-atlantic "Flying Boats" it made sense. Of course one could also point out that at the time it was in the then "President of the Executive Council" constituency, a certain Señor de Valera.

KenHy · 26-09-2010 5:47pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Yeah, feck the midlands. Not as if the people there exist/matter

Athlone is the furthest possible nook of the country from any airport. 90 mins to Dublin/Knock, more to Shannon

I dont think that 2 hours to an airport is a reasonable time either.

I'm from the midlands, of course it matters, but that does not change the fact that there is no deamand for a midlands airport! everywhere in the midlands would still be within 2 hours of one. I dont buy that 2 hours is too much either. if you want to go somewhere you'll travel that!

coolperson05 · 26-09-2010 5:54pm

KenHy wrote: »

I'm from the midlands, of course it matters, but that does not change the fact that there is no deamand for a midlands airport! everywhere in the midlands would still be within 2 hours of one. I dont buy that 2 hours is too much either. if you want to go somewhere you'll travel that!

+1

2 Hours is nothing if it's a kind of maximum and it would when the western road infrastructure is done. A bit of marketing and promotion of Shannon and the from Kerry to Sligo should be using it. And if you travel extensively, or think 2 hours is too much, move to Swords!

L1011 · 26-09-2010 7:07pm

A midlands airport would not get anything close to the service density Dublin has, meaning that to go most places you'd need to change flights somewhere... such as Dublin. Driving to Dublin would be quicker!!

veryangryman · 26-09-2010 8:08pm

MYOB wrote: »

A midlands airport would not get anything close to the service density Dublin has, meaning that to go most places you'd need to change flights somewhere... such as Dublin. Driving to Dublin would be quicker!!

Who is comparing it with Dublin?

If everyone is so accepting about this 2 hour arangement, why not use Tubber which is less than 2 hours from (amongst other places)....

Dublin
Galway
Limerick
Sligo
Kilkenny
Mullingar
Athlone
Tullamore
Portlaoise
Ballinasloe
Longford
Maynooth
Ennis

In summary, as far North as Enniskillen, as far east as Dublin, as far south as Fermoy and as far west as Connemara. Practically the whole Republic covered

Yes you will all say that these places have airports within 2 hours drive. My point is that this airport is far less "pie in the sky" to surviving on its own 2 feet than Donegal, Galway and Sligo put together. The whole country without exception is less than 2 hours from an airport with this being built.

Added to this, i dont buy MOLs idea that Ryanair are going to set back up in main airports until i see it. With that, i also predict that if it were built it would replace some of the cross-channel routes where DAA dont play ball with Ryanair

L1011 · 26-09-2010 8:19pm

Compare it to whatever airport you want. You're a relatively short drive on high quality dual carraigeway from an airport with a massive array of flights that will *never* be replicated at a new one unless Dublin was to officially relocate.

Nobody from Donegal, Cork, etc would drive to "Tubber Airport" to then get a flight to change to another flight somewhere else when they can either *drive* to the change point or fly from their own airports!

dowlingm · 27-09-2010 4:27pm

If you've got the BILLIONS to build a new airport - 2/3 runways, CAT III, etc.etc. you've got the shekels to build roads and rails to it. Ireland doesn't have the money and doesn't NEED to do it. The missed opportunity was Aer Rianta not getting the parallel 10/28 built before the money ran out.

Regional Airports

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