Waterford Airport.

savic04 · 23-09-2014 7:05pm

Surely even on the 80s they knew they would need jet aircraft to survive ?

notharrypotter · 23-09-2014 8:47pm

savic04 wrote: »

Surely even on the 80s they knew they would need jet aircraft to survive ?

Quite simply no.

You are looking at things with the benefit of 30+ years of hindsight.

In the 1980's Ireland was in recession.

Flying was for the rich and shameless.

Waterford Airport Wikipedia page.

The airport opened in 1981 with a 1,200 by 29 m (3,937 by 95 ft) runway for single and twin-engine light aircraft and a portable cabin as terminal building. In 1992 the current terminal building was opened and the runway expanded to 1,433 by 30 m (4,701 by 98 ft).

Aer Lingus Wikipedia page

In 1984, a fully owned subsidiary, Aer Lingus Commuter, was formed so that Aer Lingus could fly to larger cities in Ireland and Britain whose flying time from Dublin did not require jet planes. These services were operated primarily by five of the Belfast-built Short 360 after conducting a trial with the Short 330

RYANAIR Wikipedia page

Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan (owner of Irish travel agent Club Travel) and Irish businessman Tony Ryan (after whom the company is named), founder of Guinness Peat Aviation.[5] The airline began with a 15-seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop aircraft, flying between Waterford and Gatwick Airport

Johnny901 · 26-09-2014 11:15am

Fricatus and Teebor have nailed it, there is a lot more to Waterford Airport's value than passenger services, I see this morning that Rescue 117 is on the way to London with a seriously ill patient.

As for MOL's comments on Today FM, MOL will say whatever works best for Ryanair. If the runway is extended at Waterford and could take Ryanair's jets he would be on knocking Cork and Dublin and extoling the virtues of Waterford.

b757 · 23-10-2014 12:14am

Flybe to start using their Embraer E175 jet on the BHX route from the 29th March, according to their booking system.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Flybe---British/Embraer-ERJ-170-200LR-175LR/2483303/L/

dzilla · 23-10-2014 7:53am

Fantastic, looking forward to seeing them arrive at our airport

JCX BXC · 23-10-2014 7:56am

b757 wrote: »

Flybe to start using their Embraer E175 jet on the BHX route from the 29th March, according to their booking system.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Flybe---British/Embraer-ERJ-170-200LR-175LR/2483303/L/

That's a nice capacity upgrade for the airport! Will it still have the 3/4 flights a week?

fricatus · 23-10-2014 8:45am

b757 wrote: »

Flybe to start using their Embraer E175 jet on the BHX route from the 29th March, according to their booking system.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Flybe---British/Embraer-ERJ-170-200LR-175LR/2483303/L/

Yaay!!!

b757 · 23-10-2014 11:37am

Carnacalla wrote: »

That's a nice capacity upgrade for the airport! Will it still have the 3/4 flights a week?

4 flights per week

Max Powers · 23-10-2014 12:59pm

b757 wrote: »

4 flights per week

Explain please, means more seats on the plane is it??
Didnt think runway was long enough for jets.
Good to hear airport being supported by its clients

Teebor15 · 23-10-2014 1:23pm

Well its good to see Birmingham back to 4 days a week next summer with no break in Jan-Feb like the previous years. Lets hope Manchester follows soon.

On the fact that BHX will be an E175. Well although its on the booking engine at the moment I'd doubt we will actually see it come next March. I would say the runway is probably too short, especially the landing distance available when landing Runway 21 at only 1290M on a downward slope.

Ironically the E175's big brother, the 118 seat E195 that FLYBE have but are almost completely phasing out would be better equipped for Waterford's runway due it having more powerful engines relative to its size!

I would love to be wrong on this one, maybe the short flight distance means it will work and that FLYBE have their sums done and we will indeed see it. Going on summer 14 figures the market seems to be there to support more capacity, but I have a hunch it will be the Dash 8 as per usual.

dzilla · 23-10-2014 2:11pm

Max Powers wrote: »

Didnt think runway was long enough for jets.

When people refer to the mid size jets of most European Carriers that they would like to see at WAT they are referring mainly to 737s. This Jet is not suitable for WAT.

However smaller jets such as the Avro E185 or the Embraer are it would appear.

b757 · 07-11-2014 2:14am

http://193.178.30.218/waterfordeplan/FileRefDetails.aspx?file_number=1489&LASiteID=0

Link to the planning if anyone wants to read. Should be decided soon.

Runway extension will be done in 2 phases. 150m and 200m, giving a total of 350m w/ 2 turning circles.

wat_350m_p0_zps814ccef6.png~original

dzilla · 07-11-2014 10:28am

Wow thanks for sharing

Dum_Dum · 07-11-2014 1:12pm

Just so everyone is clear on this: the new runway length is still too short to accommodate Ryanair jets.

15 years of mass aviation in Europe for the masses, all those people whizzing around above your head seeing new cultures and climes. But Waterford continues to regress; missing out on so much.

dzilla · 07-11-2014 1:46pm

Dum_Dum wrote: »

Just so everyone is clear on this: the new runway length is still too short to accommodate Ryanair jets.

15 years of mass aviation in Europe for the masses, all those people whizzing around above your head seeing new cultures and climes. But Waterford continues to regress; missing out on so much.

I may be wrong as I am a casual Airline fan but would an runway length of 1780m cater for 737 up to 700 series?
http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/commercial/startup/pdf/737ng_perf.pdf
It wouldnt cater for the 737-800 or MAX Ryanair have? Maybe it could with restrictions.

Could somebody clarify this?

fricatus · 07-11-2014 2:02pm

Dum_Dum wrote: »

Just so everyone is clear on this: the new runway length is still too short to accommodate Ryanair jets.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not too short for Easyjet's A319s, right?

Maybe that's the plan? Certainly if I was a marketing guy, I would think the easiest way of competing with Ryanair would be to operate from an airport where they can't operate!

If you could get Easyjet into Waterford and then hoover up traffic from all over Munster and Leinster to London, without Ryanair being able to do anything about it, wouldn't that be nice?

The Dublin-London route is one of the busiest in Europe. Something like 5-10% has to originate in Waterford's catchment (50 miles) surely? If I were Easyjet, I wouldn't be ignoring that!

fricatus · 07-11-2014 2:04pm

dzilla wrote: »

I may be wrong as I am a casual Airline fan but would an runway length of 1780m cater for 737 up to 700 series?
http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/commercial/startup/pdf/737ng_perf.pdf
It wouldnt cater for the 737-800 or MAX Ryanair have? Maybe it could with restrictions.

Could somebody clarify this?

IIRC, Ryanair operate a company minimum of 1800m, even though their jets can operate from shorter runways (especially below max weights).

notharrypotter · 07-11-2014 2:18pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not too short for Easyjet's A319s, right?

Maybe that's the plan? Certainly if I was a marketing guy, I would think the easiest way of competing with Ryanair would be to operate from an airport where they can't operate!

If my marketing guy came up with a plan that precludes the major low cost operator on the islands I would fire him.

The Dublin-London route is one of the busiest in Europe. Something like 5-10% has to originate in Waterford's catchment (50 miles) surely? If I were Easyjet, I wouldn't be ignoring that!

Last time Easyjet operated in Ireland they learned how narrow the margins are.

There has been many interesting threads here on boards.ie where the supporters of a given airport have a very elastic understanding of the catchment area of an airport.

Clonmel has Cork/Dublin/Shannon all in very easy reach Waterford rarely enters the equation but yet it in "their" catchment.

dzilla · 07-11-2014 2:50pm

fricatus wrote: »

IIRC, Ryanair operate a company minimum of 1800m, even though their jets can operate from shorter runways (especially below max weights).

I see

fricatus · 07-11-2014 4:17pm

notharrypotter wrote: »

If my marketing guy came up with a plan that precludes the major low cost operator on the islands I would fire him.

Hey listen, I'm just trying to find a rationale for what they're doing!

Let's say Easyjet did open a Waterford-London route and offered fares comparable to those that Ryanair offer out of Dublin. There's potential for 150-300k passengers a year there surely.

What options would Ryanair have by way of competition if this happened? They couldn't open a route in direct competition, and lowering fares on Dublin-London might drive Easyjet out eventually, but that would be at the cost of sustained loss of margin on a huge route.

Not saying any of this is likely, but we're allowed to speculate wildly on here, aren't we?

notharrypotter wrote: »

Last time Easyjet operated in Ireland they learned how narrow the margins are.

Well were they narrow, or were they rather "narrowed" by Ryanair in a bid to get them out? In any event that was 10 years ago, and there have been huge economic changes in the meantime. Would the situation be similar now?

notharrypotter wrote: »

There has been many interesting threads here on boards.ie where the supporters of a given airport have a very elastic understanding of the catchment area of an airport.

Clonmel has Cork/Dublin/Shannon all in very easy reach Waterford rarely enters the equation but yet it in "their" catchment.

Fair point, but what I was referring to was those people travelling to London via Dublin who would reasonably be expected to consider a flight via Waterford if the option were available.

JCX BXC · 07-11-2014 5:12pm

notharrypotter wrote: »

Clonmel has Cork/Dublin/Shannon all in very easy reach Waterford rarely enters the equation but yet it in "their" catchment.

I think a better example would be cahir, its on the main Limerick-Waterford road and Dublin-Cork motorway.

notharrypotter · 07-11-2014 6:01pm

I'm just trying to find a rationale for what they're doing!

I sadly think the rationale is throw a few scraps and they would be happy.

Economically there is no longer a rationale for all our airports but that's a political decision.

.What options would Ryanair have by way of competition if this happened? They couldn't open a route in direct competition,

That's effectively what they did last time.

In any event that was 10 years ago, and there have been huge economic changes in the meantime. Would the situation be similar now?

It's probably worse. Whatever about speculative routes during the good times that's not going to happen now.

who would reasonably be expected to consider a flight via Waterford

There in lies the problem, how do you define reasonably?

The population of the south east is slightly better served in terms of travel options so significant investment cannot be justified hence my initial comment.

I think a better example would be cahir,

No Clonmel pop 16K
Cahir 3K.

air2000 · 07-11-2014 6:38pm

notharrypotter wrote: »

I sadly think the rationale is throw a few scraps and they would be happy.

Any funding for the runway is out of the airports pocket. The rationale is build the best with what you got.

notharrypotter · 07-11-2014 6:42pm

Any funding for the runway is out of the airports pocket

Have you a source?

air2000 · 07-11-2014 6:59pm

kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2014-06-26a.28

Teebor15 · 07-11-2014 7:11pm

Link to the planning if anyone wants to read. Should be decided soon.

Reading through some of the documents there it seems the Planning Authority is seeking more information on the impact of the extension to Birdlife on the backstrand. Won't be a show stopper but I suppose they have to tick the boxes. So the airport has until the middle of Jan 15 to submit that additional information so looking like late Feb/early Mar before a decision will be made.

I see also they are requesting a 10 year permission rather than the normal 5 years. As I said before getting planning permission is one thing funding it is another thing altogether. So even if planning is received there may not be any work done for a few years. I suppose they want to be ready to strike if their numbers come up on the Euromillions any time soon!

Just so everyone is clear on this: the new runway length is still too short to accommodate Ryanair jets.

That's correct. As far as I can remember Ryanair's minimum requirement is 1850m LDA (Landing Distance Available) This will fall far short of that. Ryanair also require 45M width this will still be 30M.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not too short for Easyjet's A319s, right?

I don't know EasyJets technical requirements for runways but they would certainly be less restrictive than Ryanairs. The 350m extension should satisfy their runway length requirements but they do not operate into any airport with a 30m runway like Waterford, that's not to say they wouldn't.

Would EasyJet be interested? I'm not sure. Taking the route on its own merits then its a nobrainer. They could easily operate a 2 flights a day. Say one to Luton/Stansted covering North London and one to Gatwick serving South London and maybe 4 times a week to Liverpool/Manchester.

Would they want to is another matter. Would it be worth poking Ryanair by coming into Ireland again for just a couple of routes, Waterford would be just a another airport out of all the others they serve around Europe and lets face it we are not exactly Paris or Amsterdam, where there is an abundance of high yielding passengers just waiting to be milked. True, Ryanair could not directly compete but make Michael O'Leary angry and he may attack other EasyJet routes out of sheer spite.

As has been said this extension is out of the airports pocket or willing investors which are currently very scarce Id imagine. Of course the airport would love to put the runway issue to bed once and for all and build a big 2000m long, 45m wide runway with all the bells and whistles. But just like the long wait for a University, the long wait for a Jet runway for the South East drags on and on and on and on...

notharrypotter · 07-11-2014 8:52pm

kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2014-06-26a.28

I had a look and I think the figures must be wrong, €150 million to extend the runway.

Department pledged towards a €150 million extension of the runway at Waterford Airport last August

DAA submission on extending runway 10/28 page 183.
390 m costs €55 million.

While the new northern runway is costed at €239 million (page 190).

air2000 · 07-11-2014 10:29pm

Yep def wrong. Not sure if it would be 1.5m or 15m

I think 1.5m if not alot lesd would do a 350 extension- 15m would do a complete 2000 x 45

Plane Fan · 09-11-2014 5:22pm

Is there any update on Manchester returning for 2015?

man98 · 23-11-2014 1:58am

I think the runway extension was meant to cost around €1.2 million. Anyway, I'd personally be against Ryanair operating into Waterford, even were it physically possible. Ryanair have used 6,000 ft runways before (See: Belfast City), but not much a hope of safely taking off in WAT, as well as the fact that FR can be gone like the wind if it suits them (See: Belfast City) . I've personally gone so far as to email several airlines with a proposition of Waterford services, although none have had the decency to give me a proper answer. In my opinion Waterford needs BA Cityflyer or CityJet, who will fly to London. These airlines seem to be a cut above the rest. They have EJets/ RJ85s. They fly to the City itself, a completely different product to Ryanair's. They can offer €89 returns out of DUB, so maybe €109 if we're being realistic from WAT. These planes have the flexibility to get high load factors on 2 daily returns but, once again, neither have responded.

JCX BXC · 23-11-2014 2:01am

man98 wrote: »

I think the runway extension was meant to cost around €1.2 million. Anyway, I'd personally be against Ryanair operating into Waterford, even were it physically possible. Ryanair have used 6,000 ft runways before (See: Belfast City), but not much a hope of safely taking off in WAT, as well as the fact that FR can be gone like the wind if it suits them (See: Belfast City) . I've personally gone so far as to email several airlines with a proposition of Waterford services, although none have had the decency to give me a proper answer. In my opinion Waterford needs BA Cityflyer or CityJet, who will fly to London. These airlines seem to be a cut above the rest. They have EJets/ RJ85s. They fly to the City itself, a completely different product to Ryanair's. They can offer €89 returns out of DUB, so maybe €109 if we're being realistic from WAT. These planes have the flexibility to get high load factors on 2 daily returns but, once again, neither have responded.

Would Waterford have the population to justify these high fares out of Waterford?

Plane Fan · 23-11-2014 2:11am

Good point made about BA Cityflyer / Cityjet. I personally think we can only rely on Flybe or Stobart Air to give us a London route. It's two years since RE announced the base closure and no leeway has been made with LON. It's surprising as demand is there and it was RE's most successful route in the network at one stage. Flybe are due to announce the final summer schedules on Tuesday, firstly we have to hope that MANCHESTER returns for S15, can we anticipate anything else for the airport for 2015... Only time will tell!

man98 · 23-11-2014 10:07am

Carnacalla wrote: »

Would Waterford have the population to justify these high fares out of Waterford?

I don't see why not. While these fares may be high, costs of getting to Cork/ Dublin, paying far carry on bags, the little perks from either airline. What the LCY airlines offer is a more pleasant product. An Avro breaks even at 50% LF I'm told, which is 48 passengers. Waterford could easily hit that all year round. And if it doesn't? CityJet also have Fokker 50s.
EDIT: That's €109 RETURN, sorry.

dzilla · 24-11-2014 2:11pm

Lyon and Amsterdam have been added as onward destinations on the Flybe website. At the moment it is not the direct London and Manchester routes we need but it shows we are still very much in Flybe thinking.

Meathlass · 25-11-2014 1:37pm

notharrypotter wrote: »

Clonmel has Cork/Dublin/Shannon all in very easy reach Waterford rarely enters the equation but yet it in "their" catchment.

I live in Clonmel and fly to London about twice a month. I usually use Cork Heathrow with aer lingus or Dublin luton with ryanair.

Price is the main consideration for me so if a Waterford to London flight can compete with the €60 rtn I usually pay then I'll be first in the queue.

Having said that I rarely think about Waterford airport and actually googled it to see what destinations it currently serves - Birmingham and Manchester. Fine and all that but it certainly limits the appeal. Also €8 a day is far too expensive for parking. Both Dublin and Cork are around the €6 mark.

Fatty Magoo · 25-11-2014 4:31pm

Meathlass wrote: »

I live in Clonmel and fly to London about twice a month. I usually use Cork Heathrow with aer lingus or Dublin luton with ryanair.

Price is the main consideration for me so if a Waterford to London flight can compete with the €60 rtn I usually pay then I'll be first in the queue.

Having said that I rarely think about Waterford airport and actually googled it to see what destinations it currently serves - Birmingham and Manchester. Fine and all that but it certainly limits the appeal. Also €8 a day is far too expensive for parking. Both Dublin and Cork are around the €6 mark.

Yeah well at least we have an airport.

O Riain · 25-11-2014 4:35pm

Fatty Magoo wrote: »

Yeah well at least we have an airport.

The man made fair points?

Meathlass · 25-11-2014 4:36pm

Fatty Magoo wrote: »

Yeah well at least we have an airport.

I wasn't being pejorative about Waterford airport. I was responding to another poster who mentioned that Clonmel would be in Waterford's catchment area.

Waterford is competing with Dublin and Cork for my custom and I was pointing out some reasons why it might not be on people's radar - very limited routes and expensive parking.

It's impossible sometimes to constructively criticize things in Waterford.

dzilla · 25-11-2014 4:39pm

Fatty Magoo wrote: »

Yeah well at least we have an airport.

A regional airport. That somebody from the region was making valid points about.

dzilla · 25-11-2014 4:44pm

No announcement on potential routes from Flybe yet today. They announced a new route between Belfast and Liverpool this morning but other than that nothing.

Plane Fan · 25-11-2014 5:35pm

The rest of the Flybe summer routes were due today but according to their twitter they'll be announced soon. (If we are to get any)

dzilla · 25-11-2014 6:12pm

Plane Fan wrote: »

The rest of the Flybe summer routes were due today but according to their twitter they'll be announced by the end of the week. (If we are to get any)

Ah deadly! Still hope!!

TheQuietFella · 25-11-2014 8:45pm

Meathlass wrote: »

I live in Clonmel and fly to London about twice a month. I usually use Cork Heathrow with aer lingus or Dublin luton with ryanair.

Price is the main consideration for me so if a Waterford to London flight can compete with the €60 rtn I usually pay then I'll be first in the queue.

Having said that I rarely think about Waterford airport and actually googled it to see what destinations it currently serves - Birmingham and Manchester. Fine and all that but it certainly limits the appeal. Also €8 a day is far too expensive for parking. Both Dublin and Cork are around the €6 mark.

Constructive critism is 'not allowed' regarding Waterford Airport!

b757 · 25-11-2014 9:05pm

Plane Fan wrote: »

The rest of the Flybe summer routes were due today but according to their twitter they'll be announced soon. (If we are to get any)

I have been waiting for it myself, but from what I have heard I wouldn't get my hopes up for now. Hopefully I am 100% wrong though.

fricatus · 26-11-2014 10:06am

O Riain wrote: »

The man made fair points?

I assumed that Meathlass was a woman, but either way you're right - constructive criticism can do no harm.

I find the point about parking charges interesting. I would tend to look at the overall cost of a flight + parking + diesel when making a decision on where to fly from, however having a headline parking charge that is higher than that in the two nearest major airports does seem to be a little counterproductive.

Meathlass · 26-11-2014 10:20am

fricatus wrote: »

I assumed that Meathlass was a woman, but either way you're right - constructive criticism can do no harm.

I find the point about parking charges interesting. I would tend to look at the overall cost of a flight + parking + diesel when making a decision on where to fly from, however having a headline parking charge that is higher than that in the two nearest major airports does seem to be a little counterproductive.

Yes, I am a woman. Meathlass is a bit of a give away!

Yes, I'd also take into account diseal+parking+driving time+flight when deciding where to fly from. But I will weight some elements more than others.

e.g. I would regularly pay €50 extra to fly out of Cork as it is less driving time and less hassle than Dublin airport. I'm paying a premium for the added convenience.

Cork and Waterford are both within equal distance to me. I've never been to Waterford airport but I presume it can't compete with Cork for shopping facilities? All things being equal I would then prefer to use Cork as I enjoy the duty free browsing part of my trips. To catch me as a customer Waterford would then need to offer similar airport facilities or a reduced headline flight price.

Hope that makes sense!

dzilla · 26-11-2014 10:41am

Meathlass wrote: »

Yes, I am a woman. Meathlass is a bit of a give away!

Yes, I'd also take into account diseal+parking+driving time+flight when deciding where to fly from. But I will weight some elements more than others.

e.g. I would regularly pay €50 extra to fly out of Cork as it is less driving time and less hassle than Dublin airport. I'm paying a premium for the added convenience.

Cork and Waterford are both within equal distance to me. I've never been to Waterford airport but I presume it can't compete with Cork for shopping facilities? All things being equal I would then prefer to use Cork as I enjoy the duty free browsing part of my trips. To catch me as a customer Waterford would then need to offer similar airport facilities or a reduced headline flight price.

Hope that makes sense!

Yes of course, Waterford would not compete as you say, and you are in a situation of choice to be honest so you have the luxury of making those decisions

fricatus · 26-11-2014 11:12am

Meathlass wrote: »

I've never been to Waterford airport but I presume it can't compete with Cork for shopping facilities? All things being equal I would then prefer to use Cork as I enjoy the duty free browsing part of my trips.

You'd be right there. Waterford airport is tiny, which means that it's very convenient, and there's practically no walking. If you had a strong enough arm, I reckon you could throw a stone at the plane from your car. It also means that the facilities are basic (though the coffee shop in the public lobby is lovely IIRC). I'm not even sure that there is a duty-free shop - maybe someone can comment?

Personally I have no interest in duty-free facilities, so that bit makes no difference to me. In fact, it annoys me that in most airports, you are dumped out of security straight into a drink-and-fags supermarket! I can understand the attraction for other people, though I never would have thought it would be such a big deal as to be a factor in someone's decision. Goes to show that you need to know your market!

Price and distance/convenience are my top criteria, so I would pay a €100 premium to fly out of Waterford for a weekend in London. I would save €25 of diesel plus as much again in parking charges (as getting a lift out to WAT is not a problem for me), so that's €50 in hard cash saved, and I'm happy to pay the extra €50 not to have to spend 4-5 hours of my life on the M9/M50 and to be arsing around on the long-term car park buses.

dzilla · 26-11-2014 11:19am

fricatus wrote: »

You'd be right there. Waterford airport is tiny, which means that it's very convenient, and there's practically no walking. If you had a strong enough arm, I reckon you could throw a stone at the plane from your car. It also means that the facilities are basic (though the coffee shop in the public lobby is lovely IIRC). I'm not even sure that there is a duty-free shop - maybe someone can comment?

Personally I have no interest in duty-free facilities, so that bit makes no difference to me. In fact, it annoys me that in most airports, you are dumped out of security straight into a drink-and-fags supermarket! I can understand the attraction for other people, though I never would have thought it would be such a big deal as to be a factor in someone's decision. Goes to show that you need to know your market!

Price and distance/convenience are my top criteria, so I would pay a €100 premium to fly out of Waterford for a weekend in London. I would save €25 of diesel plus as much again in parking charges (as getting a lift out to WAT is not a problem for me), so that's €50 in hard cash saved, and I'm happy to pay the extra €50 not to have to spend 4-5 hours of my life on the M9/M50 and to be arsing around on the long-term car park buses.

Ditto.

went to the islands in Greece during the summer, Dublin - > Rome - > Santorini

On reflection, when I took the hotel in dublin/parking and my time it would have made so much more sense to go Wat - Birmingham/Manchester - Santorini

We live and Learn!!

Meathlass · 26-11-2014 11:23am

I'm not saying that duty free is a big factor for me but if I'm going to spend 40 mins to an hour waiting for a flight I like somewhere warm and comfortable.

Coming up to Christmas I've 6 flights to take to Europe. I will actually travel from Dublin for one of these even though it's more expensive as I want to stock up on make up, perfume and electronics as Christmas presents in duty free.

There are varying market needs which need to be accounted for but I'd accept I'm probably not part of the core target demographic for WAT.

I can of course understand why people living in Waterford would use WAT over any other airport but surely Waterford City and County isn't big enough to sustain an airport hence they need to target people like me who live in the broader region. By default though we have much more choice so WAT need to compete on multiple variables - flight price, facilities, convenience and parking etc.

Waterford Airport.

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