Revenues at Kerry Airport drop by €3m

The withdrawal of the Government-financed public service obligation from Kerry Airport has resulted in a 19% decrease in passenger numbers and a €3m fall in revenues.

Due to the withdrawal of the obligation, Kerry Airport lost three flights a day to Dublin, resulting in passenger numbers falling by 72,961 to 310,905 over the year ended Dec 31, 2011. The knock-on effect for the company’s revenues was a loss for the year of €44,803.

Kerry Airport chairman Denis Cregan said issues that arose which were outside of the control of the company had impacted heavily on the airport’s performance.

“The year was a difficult one by any standard and a number of events outside of our control resulted in serious disruption to our business for the period in question,” Mr Cregan said.

“However, we continue to be optimistic and one of our primary aims going forward will be to increase inward traffic to the region.”

To combat the tough financial climate, a strict programme of cost-cutting has been introduced. Administration costs were reduced by 35%, from €5.8m to €3.75m, and there were cuts in labour costs, staff numbers, and operating hours of the airport to 14-and-a-half hours a day.

There was some growth in British-bound routes, while the popular holiday destinations Faro and Alicante performed satisfactorily.

Mr Cregan said the airport was operating in difficult times.

“We continue to operate in a difficult economic environment with high unemployment levels domestically at best stabilising, and reducing discretionary income. Our overseas markets are exhibiting similar conditions. In this environment change is inevitable in terms of costs, methods and processes of operation.”