Knock Airport

flazio · 21-11-2014 11:02am

Aerohead wrote: »

Not anti Knock here but living in Galway I can be in Shannon in 45 minutes with the motorway, the motorway ended at Gort but work is now underway to bring it to Tuam via Athenry which will make Shannon a very attractive Airport with a motorway all the way for City and County passengers.

That motorway will eventually head north towards Knock as well.
Only thing to consider then will be the flight prices.

Chicken1 · 21-11-2014 11:25am

flazio wrote: »

That motorway will eventually head north towards Knock as well.
Only thing to consider then will be the flight prices.

The way flights are being pulled from Knock at present it may not be open whenever that happens, that motorway is a long time away, we are lucky to be getting the bit they are working on at present.

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 11:52am

The motorway will only go to tuam

yew_tree · 21-11-2014 3:14pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

The motorway will only go to tuam

The road though from Tuam to Knock is good bar a few miles from Miltown to Ballindine. Knock can't compete with Shannon, that is the sad reality of it. If Knock continues its steady growth it will be amazing.

man98 · 21-11-2014 10:41pm

Shannon can only ride the magical unicorn for so long. While more and more flights may be leaving Knock, its clientele is going to change IMO. If Aer Lingus Regional want to expand, or Loganair, FlyBe, BA (Overly optimistic but who cares) the facilities are there. The only competitive airport between Derry and Shannon is Knock, remember.

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 10:46pm

man98 wrote: »

Shannon can only ride the magical unicorn for so long. While more and more flights may be leaving Knock, its clientele is going to change IMO. If Aer Lingus Regional want to expand, or Loganair, FlyBe, BA (Overly optimistic but who cares) the facilities are there. The only competitive airport between Derry and Shannon is Knock, remember.

Shannon re-started in 2013, an airport essentially with no money. No debts anymore either. If they can sustain the low prices now they can sustain them forever.

Was your last point sarcasm? It made me laugh

Storm 10 · 21-11-2014 10:50pm

Councillors in Galway are going to try to get commercial flight back to Galway Airport, all going well it will re-open in the next few weeks, no reason why not now that the economy is on the up again.

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 10:51pm

Storm 10 wrote: »

Councillors in Galway are going to try to get commercial flight back to Galway Airport, all going well it will re-open in the next few weeks, no reason why not now that the economy is on the up again.

Really? Open to scheduled flights? Is their a market anymore?

Storm 10 · 21-11-2014 10:58pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

Really? Open to scheduled flights? Is their a market anymore?

Well the people who flew from Galway have not gone away and I am sure if flights were back they would use them , after all the population is now almost 100,000

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 11:00pm

Storm 10 wrote: »

Well the people who flew from Galway have not gone away and I am sure if flights were back they would use them , after all the population is now almost 100,000

You have far better transport links to Dublin now from galway and I doubt any airlines would put in any routes.

Storm 10 · 21-11-2014 11:09pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

You have far better transport links to Dublin now from galway and I doubt any airlines would put in any routes.

That is not correct when you look at Waterford stuck between Dublin and Cork Airports with a motorway and rail links , anyway we will wait and see , if you could fly Galway to london/Manchester why would you waste two hours driving to Dublin with the hassle of queues etc when you could take a ten minute drive to the Airport

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 11:11pm

Storm 10 wrote: »

That is not correct when you look at Waterford stuck between Dublin and Cork Airports with a motorway and rail links , anyway we will wait and see , if you could fly Galway to london/Manchester why would you waste two hours driving to Dublin with the hassle of queues etc when you could take a ten minute drive to the Airport

Or travel to Shannon. An extra 50mins drive and a €40 fare to London, rather than stobarts €90

Storm 10 · 21-11-2014 11:18pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

Or travel to Shannon. An extra 50mins drive and a €40 fare to London, rather than stobarts €90

If it happens it will be great if not we'll there is Shannon , I still find it hard to believe that we had flights to Dublin, Cork, Belfast, London, Manchester,Edinburgh, Malaga and Lorient

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 11:20pm

Storm 10 wrote: »

If it happens it will be great if not we'll there is Shannon , I still find it hard to believe that we had flights to Dublin, Cork, Belfast, London, Manchester,Edinburgh, Malaga and Lorient

How did an atr42/72 make it to Malaga?

highlydebased · 21-11-2014 11:22pm

It was an Rj85 wet leased from flightline. Also went to Amsterdam

JCX BXC · 21-11-2014 11:23pm

highlydebased wrote: »

It was an Rj85 wet leased from flightline. Also went to Amsterdam

That makes sense;)

Storm 10 · 21-11-2014 11:25pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

That makes sense;)

If you log onto Galway Airport website there are pics of it

imurdaddy · 22-11-2014 12:19am

From what I have heard, there is not much hope for galway bar GA and maybe light biz, which to be honest would be better than total closure. It would suit a flight school perfect.

I think the not been able to expand is a major issue and the city council have not helped.

I use to fly Galway a good bit and would like to see it survive.

All though SNN is operating a fleet of Magical Unicorns sourced from mayo! Great success so far maybe something for Galway to consider!!

man98 · 22-11-2014 1:35am

I'm completely serious about Knock always having a market. If I lived in Sligo, I'd always travel to Knock. Because Wexford is probably the place in Ireland furthest from an airport with flights, I value closer airports. This is why I think FlyBe could pull off perhaps a Galway - Manchester/ Birmingham link, although there may be runway issues with a Q400.

JCX BXC · 22-11-2014 1:41am

man98 wrote: »

I'm completely serious about Knock always having a market. If I lived in Sligo, I'd always travel to Knock. Because Wexford is probably the place in Ireland furthest from an airport with flights, I value closer airports. This is why I think FlyBe could pull off perhaps a Galway - Manchester/ Birmingham link, although there may be runway issues with a Q400.

For galway to survive on 2 routes, it would need government funding and imagine trying to get that?

imurdaddy · 22-11-2014 1:48am

man98 wrote: »

I'm completely serious about Knock always having a market. If I lived in Sligo, I'd always travel to Knock. Because Wexford is probably the place in Ireland furthest from an airport with flights, I value closer airports. This is why I think FlyBe could pull off perhaps a Galway - Manchester/ Birmingham link, although there may be runway issues with a Q400.

Man we all support our local airport! I used to fly galway cork and shannon if I had to dublin or knock.

But ill be perfectly honest a certain mayo poster on here has put me and countless other people ever using knock again its sad that a boy in a fantasty game world in a basment in Castlebay could effect a airport pax figures. but thats the power of Internet.

my aunts and husband live in headford a group of 5 coples 2hols a year now go snn or dub, Anyway shannon serves the wesr coast perfectly built in the mid west as in equal point on the west coast. You dont only call it west once you reach castlebar! Mayo is more nort west!

knock will have a place but it needs to sell it self sd regional short hops to city break destinations its not now or never will be standards of DUB OR SNN

man98 · 22-11-2014 2:03am

Carnacalla wrote: »

For galway to survive on 2 routes, it would need government funding and imagine trying to get that?

Waterford survives on 1 route* for now. No news of anything yet for 2015...
*Excluding SAR

JCX BXC · 22-11-2014 2:12am

man98 wrote: »

Waterford survives on 1 route* for now. No news of anything yet for 2015...
*Excluding SAR

Waterford has the funding already in place.

imurdaddy · 22-11-2014 2:32am

man98 wrote: »

Waterford survives on 1 route* for now. No news of anything yet for 2015...
*Excluding SAR

Is that a publicly funded route? Also staff costs are tiny. I think small operations such as waterford, sligo, etc are things of the past! Too many airports..

Tenger · 22-11-2014 3:12am

imurdaddy wrote: »

Man we all support our local airport! I used to fly galway cork and shannon if I had to dublin or knock.

But ill be perfectly honest a certain mayo poster on here has put me and countless other people ever using knock again its sad that a boy in a fantasty game world in a basment in Castlebay could effect a airport pax figures. but thats the power of Internet....

No need to be insulting to another poster......you were given rope by another mod already.

22-11-2014 10:29am

imurdaddy wrote: »

Man we all support our local airport! I used to fly galway cork and shannon if I had to dublin or knock.

But ill be perfectly honest a certain mayo poster on here has put me and countless other people ever using knock again its sad that a boy in a fantasty game world in a basment in Castlebay could effect a airport pax figures. but thats the power of Internet.

I thought you were getting your self sorted this past year, so i cut you alot of slack by letting you rant at will. But getting your self worked up all over again is not doing you any favours. You should really go back to the services. Try and relax a bit, go for a walk, watch some sport(at home). This is only a chatboard after all, remember not everybody will agree with you through life.

I would ask the other Shannon posters here(if again its not you under other aliases) to stop egging you on as understandably they probably are not as aware of your circumstances. Which you have pointed out to me and a few others here in the past.

Mods should know that you have been removed from boards under many guises before as i'm sure they can verify including the physical threats to posters.

Its your own responsibility if your increasing agitation leads to another of your lapses, not mine. Its my last post to you as i'm not responsible for any of your actions, i honestly hope it gets better for you. No hard feelings but Your now on ignore from me.

cgill · 22-11-2014 10:32am

It's disappointing that people are being turned against Knock by this. It's in a time like this that people need to support the local airport as much as possible. Every airport will have their peaks and troughs and it's only through passengers supporting Knock that it will continue to grow. Shannon vs Knock vs Cork can go on forever but the unfairness of it all is the most annoying. At least Cork have had another new route announcement recently, what have Knock had? It's all good and well typing what should be done and what should happen but it's worthless unless someone actually starts doing something about it. Knock has the potential to grow more in the future but will it be allowed to?

22-11-2014 11:08am

cgill wrote: »

It's all good and well typing what should be done and what should happen but it's worthless unless someone actually starts doing something about it. Knock has the potential to grow more in the future but will it be allowed to?

Its unlikely, its government policy now. I'd love to hear from the government how supporting economic development in the West/North West synergises with Leo Varadkar actions below.

From Dec 2012.
http://www.irelandwestairport.com/utility/news_archive_details.aspx?id=308

Knock’s commercial growth meant that in 2012, it managed to fund 92% of its total operating costs with just 8% coming from Government. By contrast, Shannon Airport has losses now reaching €8m per year, even after additional subsidies. The funding of losses at Shannon Airport costs €6.10 per passenger while the comparative figure for Ireland West Airport Knock is just €0.87.

A series of Government statements has indicated that its aviation strategy was focussing on and supporting just one airport. In one such statement it was highlighted that a change in Government policy would be required to stop Knock catching up with Shannon. On 31st March 2012, quoted in the national media, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar TD said: “If nothing was done for Shannon the airport stood in danger of being passed out by Knock airport in passenger numbers, despite a current gap of over 900,000 passengers… I think if the trends continue as they are it will happen because Shannon’s numbers are already down 20 per cent this year and Knock is still growing. It is only a matter of time without a change in policy.”

This parochial decision by Government to blindly pump cash into one State airport, in the absence of any attention to its impacts on a competing airport like Knock, ignores warnings from the Government’s own aviation advisers at Booz and Co. In their report to Government earlier this year they stated that the Government should not proceed with a support package for Shannon before developing a coherent policy towards airports for the country as a whole.

The Government has overlooked the understanding entered into over 20 years ago between the State and the people of the West of Ireland. Knock is owned by a not-for-profit Trust which was asked to take on the responsibility of running an airport and additionally to stimulate enterprise and jobs. This understanding was signed into existence as a partnership between State and community of the West of Ireland in 1991.

“In the intervening years Knock grew into in internationally competitive airport employing over 100 people and supporting 900 jobs in the wider region. Throughout 2011/2012 in a time of recession we asked Government to help it make a step change to doubling these benefits for the region,” said Joe Gilmore.

JCX BXC · 22-11-2014 1:28pm

Knock probably will grow again, just expect ryanair to cut a few more routes for 2016 and then tgey will be back again, even stronger than before.

This year was a bumper year for knock, so it's not like Shannon after losing 2.2million is a constant decline. IMO the failure of Shannon and galway was the main cause for the flourish at knock. Don't worry, Shannon will fail again because there is little hope ryr will hold on to all of their routes.

22-11-2014 1:52pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

Knock probably will grow again, just expect ryanair to cut a few more routes for 2016 and then tgey will be back again, even stronger than before.

This year was a bumper year for knock, so it's not like Shannon after losing 2.2million is a constant decline. IMO the failure of Shannon and galway was the main cause for the flourish at knock. Don't worry, Shannon will fail again because there is little hope ryr will hold on to all of their routes.

Ryanair will have the resources in a few years to almost have a monopoly on airports/routes outside Dublin.

JCX BXC · 22-11-2014 2:11pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ryanair will have the resources in a few years to almost have a monopoly on airports/routes outside Dublin.

Will they bother though? Would it not be better to expand into eastern Europe or further afield?

lord lucan · 22-11-2014 2:16pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought you were getting your self sorted this past year, so i cut you alot of slack by letting you rant at will. But getting your self worked up all over again is not doing you any favours. You should really go back to the services. Try and relax a bit, go for a walk, watch some sport(at home). This is only a chatboard after all, remember not everybody will agree with you through life.

I would ask the other Shannon posters here(if again its not you under other aliases) to stop egging you on as understandably they probably are not as aware of your circumstances. Which you have pointed out to me and a few others here in the past.

Mods should know that you have been removed from boards under many guises before as i'm sure they can verify including the physical threats to posters.

Its your own responsibility if your increasing agitation leads to another of your lapses, not mine. Its my last post to you as i'm not responsible for any of your actions, i honestly hope it gets better for you. No hard feelings but Your now on ignore from me.

That has to be one of the most patronizing posts I've read on here in some time. You've been infracted for back seat modding,cut the crap or you'll be banned permanently from A&A.

imurdaddy · 22-11-2014 2:48pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I thought you were getting your self sorted this past year, so i cut you alot of slack by letting you rant at will. But getting your self worked up all over again is not doing you any favours. You should really go back to the services. Try and relax a bit, go for a walk, watch some sport(at home). This is only a chatboard after all, remember not everybody will agree with you through life.

I would ask the other Shannon posters here(if again its not you under other aliases) to stop egging you on as understandably they probably are not as aware of your circumstances. Which you have pointed out to me and a few others here in the past.

Mods should know that you have been removed from boards under many guises before as i'm sure they can verify including the physical threats to posters.

Its your own responsibility if your increasing agitation leads to another of your lapses, not mine. Its my last post to you as i'm not responsible for any of your actions, i honestly hope it gets better for you. No hard feelings but Your now on ignore from me.

Another laughable post! makie upie little tails, I told nothing but the truth in my post unlike yours which is another crazy rant which you post history is filled with! any unstable little mind if my post sends you over the edge.

made up tails and insults dont bother me, just weaken your arguments.

JCX BXC · 22-11-2014 2:51pm

imurdaddy wrote: »

Another laughable post! makie upie little tails, I told nothing but the truth in my post unlike yours which is another crazy rant which you post history is filled with! any unstable little mind if my post sends you over the edge.

made up tails and insults dont bother me, just weaken your arguments.

Can people on here ever stop the arguments?
Mayomaffia now has an infraction, they cannot respond to your posts so I recommend not attacking their posts (however laughable they may be).Not everything is about having the last word...

We don't want this tread locked, so we need to stop this Shannon vs Knock (I will also take my own advice).

imurdaddy · 22-11-2014 2:53pm

Carnacalla wrote: »

Can people on here ever stop the arguments?
Mayomaffia now has an infraction, they cannot respond to your posts so I recommend not insulting them and leaving them unable to respond.

Not everything is about having the last word...

I did not insult him.

lets move on.

kirving · 24-11-2014 5:27pm

Flew out of Knock on Friday evening. I'd never even heard of the Development Charge before then. Why this isn't included in the Ryanair fare is beyond me.

I was forced to fly back to Belfast yesterday night though, and got a lift straight to Knock to collect my car from the car park. I was greeted by a locked gate, and not a soul in sight. There are no signs outside the car park indicating it's opening hours, and being an airport, in 2014, you'd kind of expect 24 hour access, right? Nope.

What is wrong with a security barrier, I don't know. Seems to work fine everywhere else. It's not even secure, either. A bolt cutters would have seen me into the car park, but I don't carry one around in my pocket. I'm regretting not just abandoning my car in the rental car park.

Opening hours listed outside. No
Opening hours listed clearly online? No. (It's a single line on the web page, after you click into "Read more"
Phone number to ring? No.
Security office around? No.
I remotely set my car alarm off too, to maybe attract a security guard. Nothing.

There's a 24 hour petrol station not five minutes away, and yet the airport won't even allow customers to access their own cars in an emergency. That is a complete joke of an operation in my opinion, and I image others will agree.

(Actually, nor is passenger security even remotely up to standard. Not by a long shot, but going into details on the internet probably isn't the best idea)

Glad as I was of the location at the time, an airport that has to further levy passengers, for inadequate service is doomed to fail. Aside from travelling back to get my car today, I will choose the drive to Dublin or Belfast every single time in future.

vkid · 24-11-2014 5:51pm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Flew out of Knock on Friday evening. I'd never even heard of the Development Charge before then. Why this isn't included in the Ryanair fare is beyond me.

Its an airport charge isn't it? So Ryanair have nothing to do with it.

JCX BXC · 24-11-2014 5:54pm

vkid wrote: »

Its an airport charge isn't it? So Ryanair have nothing to do with it.

Its very very stupid regardless, and it will prevent passengers from returning. People will be pissed off with it when they are just asked for a tenner on top of paying their fare.

cgill · 24-11-2014 6:02pm

If you're not flying into the airport you can hardly expect them to be waiting for you outside operational hours to collect your car?! I agree a sign with opening hours may be necessary, so send the airport an email so that they can address this - they can't improve without feedback! At the very least, there is an information desk which you could have rang to find out the required info... It's not feasible for the airline to collect the development fee and as far as I know there is a notice when you are booking. An airport of Knock's size needs this money to fund improvements, Galway started to do it too but it was too late to make any difference for them...if you need to fly through Knock then it shouldnt be an issue and you would pay that much in fuel going to Dublin or Shannon anyway.

JCX BXC · 24-11-2014 6:07pm

cgill wrote: »

If you're not flying into the airport you can hardly expect them to be waiting for you outside operational hours to collect your car?! I agree a sign with opening hours may be necessary, so send the airport an email so that they can address this - they can't improve without feedback! At the very least, there is an information desk which you could have rang to find out the required info... It's not feasible for the airline to collect the development fee and as far as I know there is a notice when you are booking. An airport of Knock's size needs this money to fund improvements, Galway started to do it too but it was too late to make any difference for them...if you need to fly through Knock then it shouldnt be an issue and you would pay that much in fuel going to Dublin or Shannon anyway.

If you lived in or around galway, the €10 is probably a deciding factor.

kirving · 24-11-2014 6:22pm

cgill wrote: »

If you're not flying into the airport you can hardly expect them to be waiting for you outside operational hours to collect your car?! I agree a sign with opening hours may be necessary, so send the airport an email so that they can address this - they can't improve without feedback! At the very least, there is an information desk which you could have rang to find out the required info... It's not feasible for the airline to collect the development fee and as far as I know there is a notice when you are booking. An airport of Knock's size needs this money to fund improvements, Galway started to do it too but it was too late to make any difference for them...if you need to fly through Knock then it shouldnt be an issue and you would pay that much in fuel going to Dublin or Shannon anyway.

Well, when I'm paying to keep the car there, I would expect 24 hour access yes. An automated barrier already exists, and works perfectly well in every other airport I've ever been to. Installing an automated barrier, and then locking the place with gates is very misleading. There are no sings indicating the opening hours clearly displayed on the gate. Not on the website either.

I wouldn't even have minded an out of hours call out charge, but this isn't available either. Noone on the other end of the phone.

highlydebased · 24-11-2014 6:27pm

A bizarre situation- the airport assumes I suppose that people will only take or leave their cars before/after flights to Knock.

The average passenger wouldn't have a clue about the airport operating hours so at very least they could provide a very clear notice about it.

L1011 · 24-11-2014 6:28pm

vkid wrote: »

Its an airport charge isn't it? So Ryanair have nothing to do with it.

Most airports with such fees agree to roll them in to fares - this was the case with Are Arann at Waterford, I don't know if flybe do it though

kirving · 24-11-2014 6:40pm

highlydebased wrote: »

A bizarre situation- the airport assumes I suppose that people will only take or leave their cars before/after flights to Knock.

The average passenger wouldn't have a clue about the airport operating hours so at very least they could provide a very clear notice about it.

And that's probably fine for 99% of cases, sure. Closing one hour after the last arrival / departure is a bit arbitrary to say the least.

cgill · 24-11-2014 6:46pm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

And that's probably fine for 99% of cases, sure. Closing one hour after the last arrival / departure is a bit arbitrary to say the least.

Why would they stay open though? If the flights have finished for the day they would be paying extra wages but no flights to deal with. They have to be careful with their finances so that one day they can get rid of the development fee and not keep it going forever. You cant have it both ways..

Storm 10 · 24-11-2014 6:52pm

Surely the pay machine should be outside the main door so you could collect anytime, very surprised about no security at an Airport

Locker10a · 24-11-2014 8:07pm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

I was forced to fly back to Belfast yesterday night though, and got a lift straight to Knock to collect my car from the car park. I was greeted by a locked gate, and not a soul in sight. There are no signs outside the car park indicating it's opening hours, and being an airport, in 2014, you'd kind of expect 24 hour access, right? Nope.

What is wrong with a security barrier, I don't know. Seems to work fine everywhere else. It's not even secure, either. A bolt cutters would have seen me into the car park, but I don't carry one around in my pocket. I'm regretting not just abandoning my car in the rental car park.

Opening hours listed outside. No
Opening hours listed clearly online? No. (It's a single line on the web page, after you click into "Read more"
Phone number to ring? No.
Security office around? No.
I remotely set my car alarm off too, to maybe attract a security guard. Nothing.

There's a 24 hour petrol station not five minutes away, and yet the airport won't even allow customers to access their own cars in an emergency. That is a complete joke of an operation in my opinion, and I image others will agree.

(Actually, nor is passenger security even remotely up to standard. Not by a long shot, but going into details on the internet probably isn't the best idea)

Glad as I was of the location at the time, an airport that has to further levy passengers, for inadequate service is doomed to fail. Aside from travelling back to get my car today, I will choose the drive to Dublin or Belfast every single time in future.

You are right about the parking and the abandoned airport at night, you should give this feedback to the airport

flazio · 24-11-2014 11:30pm

That would make me wary about paying to leave my car at their airport if someone can just climb the fence and help themselves. The least I'd expect is 24 hour monitoring.
"Ireland West Airport. Don't Knock it until you try it."

kirving · 25-11-2014 12:13pm

cgill wrote: »

Why would they stay open though? If the flights have finished for the day they would be paying extra wages but no flights to deal with. They have to be careful with their finances so that one day they can get rid of the development fee and not keep it going forever. You cant have it both ways..

While I understand that to a point, the complete absence of signage both online and at the airport itself is what's really annoying.

I'm not looking for it both ways, but right now, they're charging the fee, charging for parking, and still not providing the service.

I did make a complaint yesterday, so hopefully even a few signs can be erected in future.

25-11-2014 12:59pm

Kevin Irving wrote: »

While I understand that to a point, the complete absence of signage both online and at the airport itself is what's really annoying.

I'm not looking for it both ways, but right now, they're charging the fee, charging for parking, and still not providing the service.

I did make a complaint yesterday, so hopefully even a few signs can be erected in future.

The whole point of the 10 euro is to pay the airport staff wages and to pay for maintenance of the airport.
Im surprised there was no security... Could be an off site camera system. Its probably a rare event for someone to collect the Car after the airport is shut. However it should still of been possible. Hopefully the airport will act on your complaint.

No matter how small, All changes cost money of which they have very little so you could be waiting a while. Knock has to operate lean. It can,t afford the waste or luxuries of other airports.

Knock Airport

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