Flight back from disaster

Neans McSweeney reports how South-East Regional Airport turned despair into triumph.

ON a cold December day in 2002, Euroceltic Airways announced it was pulling out of the South-East Regional Airport. It was seen as the death-knell for the airport in Waterford, particularly when its staff were put on protective notice just four days later.

But today, its fortunes have been completely turned around with the help of Aer Arann, the award-winning airline. There are also plans in train for flights to a number of key European destinations. It’s been another record year for the airport, with passenger numbers hitting a record 70,000.

Airport chairman Nicky Fewer said it would have been so easy to throw in the towel during the long, dark days. But the never-say-die attitude of those who worked so hard to get the airport up and running turned the lows of December 2002 into a determination to achieve much more for Waterford and the south-east as a whole.

“In the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens writes of the French Revolution that ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. The same could safely be said of 2003 from the airport’s perspective.

“However, through the selfless hard work of a lot of people on the board and among the staff, the best of times came after the worst of times and it is the positive days of 2003 that have left the strongest legacy.

“That year began with the airport in something of a trough after the now defunct Euroceltic Airways announced that they were withdrawing from the London-Luton route with effect from late January. This commercial decision left the airport facing a very uncertain future and a group of directors met our employees on December 12, 2002 to inform them of the grave situation we faced.

“Indeed, protective notice was issued to our staff on December 16, 2002 as the prospect loomed of the airport being forced to cease operations. We also briefed the local authorities in the five counties of the south-east at this time as these bodies had supported us in earlier difficulties,” Mr Fewer recalled.

“There followed a period of very intense negotiations during which every possible avenue to secure the airport’s long-term viability was explored.

“In addition to having discussions with a number of airlines, members of the board also held talks in the first half of the year with Ministers Martin Cullen, Seamus Brennan and Dermot Ahern, each of whom turned out to be hugely valuable allies in our bid to save the airport while we also liaised with several senior officials in various government departments.

“This activity - which I have to say took some remarkable twists and turns - culminated with the announcement at the airport by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Martin Cullen TD, that a multi-million euro funding package from the Department of Transport and the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources had secured the airport’s future as a key piece of regional infrastructure.

“It was also at this time that we were able to confirm the imminent arrival in the south-east of the award- winning regional airline, Aer Arann, who announced that they were to operate daily services linking Waterford and the south-east with London-Luton.”

Earlier this month at the Airport’s AGM, Nicky Fewer said it was hoping to develop air links to Europe.

“We are confident that we will be in a position to announce new routes to Europe from Waterford and we were particularly heartened by the response from local people and indeed from throughout the region, which indicates that there is a significant demand for the package of routes which we plan,” said Mr Fewer.

A major British carrier will not now provide the service, as had been hoped. It was hoped that it might provide two flights a week to and from Malaga, Barcelona and Bordeaux as well as a weekly return service to Faro.

But airport bosses will continue to expand the services in Waterford.

“Building on the success of the existing Aer Arann services that connect Waterford with Manchester, London Luton and Lorient, the additional destinations we hope to introduce next year offer the potential to make ours the airport of first choice for a whole new set of passengers,” he said.

Praising the airport’s staff, management and board, Mr Fewer said that a great team effort had helped turn around the facility’s fortunes.

He concludes: “There has been a huge commitment shown to the airport by a group of people operating at different levels and it is this that has put us in the good position we are now in.

“We can now look to the future with confidence and it is clear that the introduction of additional routes to Europe will require us to make some changes to the terminal building at the airport while we also ultimately hope to extend the runway to accommodate larger aircraft.”