Kerry Airport sees profits jump as it rules out any name changes

Profits up 14% to €1.37m driven by strong performances in fuel, gift shop/duty free, and car park operations

A new arrivals hall opened in March this year at Kerry Airport, and an expansion of the departures hall was due to be completed by the end of July. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Kerry Airport has ruled out any future name change, with the board no longer considering requests to rename the private airport, as it reported a €1.37m profit last year.

Results released ahead of the airport’s AGM show a growth in passenger numbers as well as profit in 2024. The airport in Farranfore reported operating profit after taxation of €1,373,300, compared to €1,198,347 in the previous year. The final profit represented a 14% increase year-on-year.

Last year was another record year for Kerry Airport, with 417,409 passengers, the third highest passenger numbers in the airport’s history, for the year to the end of December, it said.

Supported by Government grants, the result is particularly welcome in light of planned capital expenditure of over €4.4m in 2025, Basil Sheerin, chief financial officer of Kerry Airport, said. 

A new arrivals hall opened in March this year, and an expansion of the departures hall was due to be completed by the end of July 2025. Growth in 2024 was driven by strong performances in fuel, gift shop/duty free, and car park operations.

Separately, in a letter to the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council, the secretary of the private airport said the board intended "to promote the Kerry brand" well into the future and the question of any name change was "closed".

"The board considers the matter of renaming the airport at any time as closed and no further considerations will be given to requests of this nature," John O’Sullivan, airport secretary, said on behalf of the board of directors.

The letter was in response to a request by the council to explore the possibility of renaming Kerry Airport after Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator, given 2025 was the 250th anniversary of the famous Kerry man's birth. The request had been given "serious consideration", Mr O’Sullivan said.

However, "the board is of the strong opinion that the current ‘Kerry Airport’ name is an established brand both domestically and internationally".

Killarney councillor John O’Donoghue, who led the move, has expressed his disappointment. O’Connell was the greatest of Kerry men and Irish men and a committed European, and the county would have benefited, he felt.

"Other international airports such as the John Lennon airport in Liverpool and the George Best City airport in Belfast were named after local figures and still bore their place name and Kerry would still also be known as Kerry," he said. The councillor had made the request on foot of suggestions from the public.

This article was funded by the Local Democracy Scheme