Sponge Bob wrote: » That was the Grassroots column which is possibly written by a local politician of some sort.
July 3, 2000 Boost for effort to relocate Galway airport Irish Times Businessman Mr Denis O'Brien has thrown his weight behind a campaign by Minister of State and Galway West TD Mr Eamon O Cuiv to relocate Galway airport and develop it for international travel. Mr O'Brien, chairman of Esat Telecom, had been in discussions with Corrib Airport Company on developing the existing runway at Carnmore. Not only has he pulled out of these negotiations, he has also described the development plans as 'flawed' and a 'waste of taxpayers' money'. However, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, has reaffirmed Government financial support for Carn more, and has said that any relocation must be 'a matter for the airport board'. The debate on the future of Galway airport - or airports - has been running for some time, but temperatures have been raised by Mr O'Brien's statement. O Cuiv, who has also been given a leg-up by Galway Corporation has earmarked 80 acres for the new site. Both the corporation and the county council commissioned consultants to examine air traffic needs. Buchanan and Associates - also authors of a land use and transportation study for Galway - estimated a market for 280,000 passengers per annum by 2012, and that a 1,600-metre runway would be required to cater for 200-seater aircraft. 'Carnmore doesn't have that amount of land available, and there would be difficulties with an extension in terms of the number of landowners out there,' Mr Joe Gavin, city manager, says. 'Oranmore was identified as an ideal location for a larger airport because there are only two landowners - ourselves and the Department of Defence.' an Spellissy records in The History of Galway: City and County, published late last year, Carnmore aerodrome was originally a private airfield built by Ernest Steiner, a German businessman and former Luftwaffe officer, who had set up a factory outside Galway and wanted to be able to commute regularly to his home in the then west Germany In 1970, *Udaras na Gaeltachta subsidised Aer Arann to promote a daily service to the Aran islands. Spellissy quotes former Irish Times (italics) western correspondent, Michael Finlan, who described Carnmore then as 'little more than a jumped-up airstrip that ended abruptly at a stone wall beyond which sheep grazed'.The corporation believes 240 acres would be required to develop an international airport, and its decision to sign over acreage at Oranmore is subject to the required balance being released by the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith. Last month, the city council resolved to send a deputation to Dublin to meet the Taoiseach, Ms O'Rourke and Mr Smith with a view to acquiring a further 160 acres of land owned by the Department of Defence. The deputation also intends to seek State funding for the Oranmore project. How such a request will be received is another matter, given that Ms O'Rourke has made her position clear. Two years ago her Department allocated (pounds) 3.1 million to Carnmore to upgrade its runway. This funding - (pounds) 1.1 million of which has been drawn down to date - still stands, a spokesman for the Minister told The Irish Times. It is understood that the initial tranche has been used to acquire extra land for the project, and a planning application has now been lodged. Mr O Cuiv has made no secret of his opposition to this expenditure. He has warned that Galway will lose out on tourist numbers if it cannot provide such a link - in spite of proximity to Shannon and accessible links to the east coast, which already make for a year-round industry. Observing the debate are bemused members of Galway Chamber of Commerce, responsible for Corrib Airport Company at Carnmore. Mr John Coyle, businessman and chairman of the company, is not only 'surprised' at Mr O'Brien's decision to pull out of talks on involvement in Carnmore, he is also mystified that the debate should be so polarised. 'We are not against an airport at Oranmore, and the public clearly support Mr O Cuiv's campaign,' Mr Coyle says. 'The corporation's allocation of land is the first very positive step in plans for its development. However, even if such a facility did get support immediately it would be some years before construction. 'The reality is that Galway needs Carnmore. It is run on a profitable basis for the business community of this area, with five flights daily to the capital. However, to maintain that success, and meet the requirements of the Irish Aviation Authority, we need to proceed with our own development plans. This time next year it will be our London City airport.' The airport has already set a 12-month target for attracting 100-seater aircraft. 'We are building up traffic here, so why limit options now by trying to force a choice between two very different operations?' Mr Coyle asks. The priority for most of its commuters is the Dublin link, which is now more flexible following the introduction of an Aer Arann route, and a direct service to Britain may be viable next year. Northern Europe is also a possibility, according to Mr Jarlath Feeney, the chamber of commerce's chief executive, who points out that Galway already has a new summer air link to the Swiss capital, Zurich.Mr Liam Barrett, a spokesman for Mr O'Brien, said Mr O'Brien was interested in supporting the Oranmore proposal, and was carrying out a feasibility study. Mr Barrett confirmed that Mr O'Brien had been in discussions with the Carnmore management in relation to taking an equity stake, but 'on further reflection' he had decided that he would consider a significant investment in the development of Oranmore as the future Galway airport to be worthwhile. Mr O'Brien had 'no fault to find with Carnmore', Mr Barrett said. However, he also confirmed a statement made by Mr O'Brien on June 23rd which said Carnmore 'will not be able to handle the continued economic expansion of the Galway region as the runway will never be able to be expanded to cater for the full range of Boeing 737 or equivalent commercial jets'. To proceed with extending the runway would be a 'waste of taxpayers' money', the statement said.
From next March, there will be over 20 flights a week to and from Milan, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona. They will be the first such direct flights in and out of the Western region.http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1121/ryanair_knock.html
Storm 10 wrote: » Guys I feel so sorry for the way that you were treated, I fail to understand how the Airport was allowed to get to where it is today its a disgrace, then this new announcement by Ryanair of new routes out of knock is hard to take. Could Aer Lingus Regional not have take over the routes to Edinburgh, London and Manchester or were they ever approached.
ff99 wrote: » The truth about galway airport. The staff at galway airport have worked very hard over the last number of years to further the business, look after its customers and build themselves a future. Along with a small group of other employees of the airport, we wanted to clarify a few things and set the record straight. We believe the airport has been mismanaged terribly over the last number of years. We have heard the Minister for Transport say that the airport is running with a huge cost base, this is true. The top four managers, who consist of the "senior management team" run up a wages bill in excess of half a million euro. This doesnt include company cars, credit cards, gym memberships, health insurance, unlimited phone bills and big expense accounts. This perhaps wouldn't be too bad if any significant milestones had been achieved in the last few years, but instead all that has happened has been a litany of disasters. A navigation device for aircraft which cost a quarter of a million euro called an NDB which has never been switched on! An emergency water supply which cost tens of thousands of euro, also never used and not installed correctly, massive lights on the aircraft parking areas bought, installed and never used, costing an absolute fortune. They have sat back and watched while airlines pulled out and destinations were dropped. The airport went from having 16 busy routes over 3 airlines, to having no routes and no airline, only empty promises of return, that not even the airlines own employees believe. From processing over 300,000 passengers a year, to processing 0! And the airport management and board of management have sat back and watched it all happen, nothing done about it, nothing changed. Managers kept in their positions because of pride, the unwillingness to admit that the dream team wasnt working. Staff positions and promotions were never done fairly and always carried out in secret, with little regard to qualifications or suitability or even age or life experience. As it was put recently, the airport has only served as a breeding ground for management and their offspring, with nepotism, absenteeism and office romance dictating the direction the airport was taken. So there is underway a big clearout of the staff at the airport, a sensible move you might think, considering the high cost base upon which it was operating. Bring the Staff level down to a bare minimum to ride out the storm, cut from 55 down to 7. It didn't surprise any of us staff to hear that out of the four senior management positions, three were still being kept! 47 redundancies in total, yet only one of them from senior management! The rest all from the workforce. Over 95% of the Staff gone, and 75% of the managers remain. Aerodrome Manager - kept, Financial Manager - kept, General Manager/Managing Director - kept (although a new person will take up the role), marketing manager - redundant. Wage bill after big clearout, probably still in excess of €300,000. Staff at the ground level have been decimated. People who have worked there over 20 years been let go, and managers been kept in their jobs. People which the airport cannot open without such as air traffic controllers and firefighters being let go, yet the managers stay. Which brings me on to the new Manager who will replace the managing director who is off to Australia. His first task, to give a lucrative contract to his own company to run the career transition programme which has featured in the local media. All of the back clapping in the paper and praise for the airport has just been senior management feathering their own nest again. " The chairman of the galway chamber of commerce congratulated the airport on the programme" - of course he did, he had a part in signing it off!!!!! The new manager, who I will not name, started giving courses on how to do up your CV, and was engaging with staff to find out information about the airport before he even told them that he was going to be their new boss, and the person who will be negotiating their redundancies with them. How was this new manager picked? We don't know, did he have an interview? we doubt it. Perhaps it was because he was a long serving member of the board of management that got him his nice new handy number. Rumours are circulating that his company has been advising senior management for the last number of months, orchestrating the whole collective redundancy situation entirely. All of this adds up to a huge blow for staff, all of these pills which are hard to swallow, all which we have to take and remain silent for fear of our jobs or been bullied by our managers, when everyone there knows who is responsible for the mess we find ourselves in today. And then they offer statutory redundancy for all out its loyal employees. Less than 40% of what staff got a year ago, the final kick in the face to the already downtrodden staff. Management claim they have no money, despite receiving massive funding from the government every year for as long as any of us can remember. Perhaps it was the brand new, never used, state of the art fire engine which arrived last month, or the big going away do for the MD before he jetted off to Australia? So I put it to the people of Galway, that there is an Airport in Carnmore, already built and (nearly) ready to go, all it needs is someone with some foresight and ability to think beyond the "grab all" celtic tiger mentality, which has bred this type of corruption and small town attitude. If there is anyone out there willing to make a go of it, the expertise and facilities are there, all we need is a change at the helm. Sincerest Regards, Staff members of Galway Airport (we do not represent all staff members, just the vocal ones)
