Celebrations as 30 years fly by at airport

YESTERDAY marked the 30th anniversary of the first air services to and from the south-east of Ireland, when the new IR£1.5 million Waterford Airport was granted an operational licence.

The occasion was marked at the time with a 25-minute flight from Dublin on an Avair 30-seat aircraft. The airline’s chief pilot Captain Hank Vanderzee was at the controls, while passengers included airport manager Chris Hennessy and Avair managing director Gerry Connolly.

The airport was granted its full flying wings in March 1982, when the Department of Transport and Power sanctioned a licence for international flights.