Kerry Airport to hit record passenger numbers with new facilities

The airport has invested around €5m of its own reserves into new arrivals and departure facilities which will open at the end of July, its AGM has heard

Kerry Airport has invested around €5m of its own reserves into a new arrivals and departure facilities which will open at the end of July. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Kerry airport is heading for record passenger numbers this year, its AGM in Tralee heard on Monday.

The airport in Farranfore, which is heavily dependent on government subsidy, reported operating profit after taxation of €1,373,300 for 2024, compared to €1,198,347 in the previous year.

However, without the operational expenditure Opex grant — the annual government subsidy for core services at regional airports — Kerry would have recorded a loss of €533,000, the meeting at the Ballygarry Estate Hotel was told.

The Opex subsidy amounted to just over €1.392m in 2024, a decrease of €29,000 on the previous year of over €1.42m.

The annual allocation is an “esoteric process,” chairman Denis Cregan said in response to questions from the floor. The grants are published in November, and it is not yet known how much Kerry Airport, a passenger rather than a cargo airport, will be allocated for 2025.

Strong performances on fuel bought by Ryanair, corporate jet business, the gift shop, and the carpark operations led to the increase in turnover. However, the county council rates bill, energy costs, and wage costs were challenges.

The airport has invested around €5m of its own reserves into new arrivals and departure facilities which will open at the end of July. The spend was felt necessary for passenger convenience at the growing airport.

The new facilities will mean a third gate for departures and help ease a queuing situation which has developed. An appeal went out to passengers to arrive early.

“Perhaps because it is Kerry,” people arrived last minute, often 40 minutes before departure, the AGM was told.

“We need to get the message out there: Please come early,” chief financial officer Basil Sheerin said in an appeal to passengers on the Kerry to Germany, Spain, France, London, and Dublin routes.

Capital support

Capital facilities as such as fire and electric buses and vehicles for internal transport received Capex or government capital support. 

In 2024, Kerry was allocated 637,000 in capital funding support for improvements to the runway, a new scanner, electric vehicles, and other equipment.

In 2025, the allocation would be 1.83m for safety and security and further carbon reduction measures.

The focus after the construction of the arrivals hall was building cash reserves to try to entice more airlines, chairman Denis Cregan, said.

We are getting back now to building cash reserves to attract new carriers

Kerry was very much dependant on Ryanair, including for the regional Dublin to Kerry flight which now operated on a commercial basis, the AGM heard.

A better service to Dublin was needed, with earlier departure times, but the airport was dependent on Ryanair, which had taken over the once subsidised route. Should the Ryanair commercial arrangement fail, then the board would lobby the Government to re-instate the government subsidised public service obligation (PSO) route for Kerry, Mr Cregan said.

Some of the existing routes by Ryanair had increased, with the Kerry flight to Alicante now operating five times a week.

Three French routes with the French carrier Chalair — to Brittany, Normandy, and the Dordogne — were now in place for the next 12 weeks and overall passenger numbers this year were likely to exceed the 420,000 record set in 2009, the meeting heard.

Much work was undertaken by the voluntary boards, including marketing supervision, along with efforts to develop new routes. The policy of not paying a dividend so as to further develop the airport was to continue, the well-attended meeting was told.