City gets rail and road pledge as airport lines up new service
Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said there will be no rail closures in the region and pledged that the long-awaited M9 motorway to Dublin will be completed before 2007. He also said the Government supports the regional airport.
The commitments were given in a meeting with Mr Brennan, and Environment Minister, Martin Cullen, yesterday evening.
Speaking after the meeting, Waterford Chamber of Commerce CEO, Frank O’Regan was optimistic about Waterford’s future as a Gateway city.
“Minister Brennan assured us there would be no rail closures and he said he was committed to developing the rail freight business in the national interest.
“The Minister also said he was very supportive of the long-term future of Waterford Airport, and he renewed what he termed his own personal and the Government’s commitment to the N9 motorway project to be completed in the 2006/7 period.”
The welcome news came just 24 hours after Euroceltic Airways ceased operations from Waterford, as well as other regional airports in Donegal and Sligo after its licence was suspended by the British Air Authority. An estimated 120 jobs have been lost as a result.
But the future for the South East Regional Airport is anything but bleak, manager, Nicholas Fewer, said last night.
Plans for an alternative to Euroceltic’s service were hatched as early as November of last year, he said, and are at an advanced stage. The airport is now looking at expanding services for the future and there is no question of it folding, Mr Fewer said.
Government funding for the airport, a package which will be confirmed this weekend, will help guarantee its future, he said.
“We began discussions with other airlines last year, in the event of anything happening to Euroceltic. We are in very advanced talks with Aer Arann and we hope to receive a proposal from them to begin a service within a matter of weeks,” Mr Fewer said.
“Euroceltic has shown the Waterford to London route is viable and that the yield it has generated will return a profit to an airline. That has made it easier for us in our discussions with airlines,” he added. All 120 airport employees have been on protective notice since before Christmas.
“We had expected to lift the protective notice this weekend. But we are confident we will have a carrier operating very soon. There is still lot of activity at the airport and the full complement of staff is still working there,” Mr Fewer said.
An Aer Arann spokesman said there has been no formal announcement about setting up in Waterford. But he confirmed talks were underway and suggested there might be an announcement shortly.
Airport bosses have lobbied the Government to award Waterford a public service obligation contract so it could obtain more Government aid. But it is not considered peripheral enough to warrant such a service.
“If you consider the time it takes to drive from Waterford to Dublin, we are worse off than Galway in terms of travel time,” Mr Fewer said.
