Waterford a winner as fans take the easy way out

WATERFORD may not have attracted the same focus as other Munster hubs in the run-up to the Heineken Cup, but the city and county is still basking in the boom the game brought to the region.

Hundreds of fans travelled to Saturday’s Heineken Cup final through Waterford Airport which experienced one of its busiest ever days with 178 aircraft movements on May 20.

Some 20 planes and helicopters were used to convey rugby fans to airports in England and Wales from where they travelled to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to witness Munster’s thrilling defeat of Biarritz.

Among the flights making the same-day return trip were two special charters on a Fokker 50 aircraft which brought two groups of 50 passengers from Waterford to Swansea at 6.30am and 9am on Saturday, flights facilitated by the airport opening from 4.30am and staying open until 2am.

With Aer Arann’s scheduled passenger services to London Luton and Manchester also experiencing increased demand in the lead-in to the weekend, it is estimated that over 250 Munster fans travelled through Waterford Airport en route to Cardiff.

Airport chairman Nicky Fewer said those flying through Waterford for the big game appreciated the convenience.

“I know that those who went on the two chartered flights were particularly pleased to be on the ground in Wales soaking up the pre-match atmosphere while some of their fellow fans were still en route to the more congested airports at Shannon, Cork and Dublin.

“Based on the strong demand at the weekend, the airport intends to look at making similar charter flights available for other major sporting occasions in Britain during the year ahead and would be interested in hearing from groups interested in flying the stress-free way to big events.”