City location attracts niche market

THE skies in the west of Ireland may always be busy during the Galway Races but the level of aviation activity in the region is no longer confined to the whirr of helicopters decamping wealthy businessmen to corporate tents at Ballybrit for one week in July.

Galway Airport, located a mere 6km east of the city at Carnmore, has recorded steady growth over recent years, despite facing strong competition from its two nearest, larger rivals at Shannon and Knock.

The bedrock of its success has always been its services to Dublin — flights which remain part of the Government-funded Essential Air Services Programme. Passengers on the route have grown from 51,000 in 1995 to more than 74,000 last year. The airport’s managing director, Joe Walsh, reports that growth in passenger numbers has continued this year, despite improvements to the road network that has reduced journey times by car to Dublin.

Government funding for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) route has fallen off recently but such is its success in passenger terms that many aviation experts believe the route could be self-financing.

One of its main existing attractions is the early-morning “red eye” service that allows travellers to connect to many onward destinations from Dublin on flights departing before 9am.

Overall, almost 310,000 passengers used Galway Airport last year — a 24% increase on 2006 figures.

“The airport’s success is all about footfall,” admits Walsh, who adds that Galway has also recorded double-digit growth on its Luton services this year after the frequency of flights was increased.

He also stressed that Galway is not interested in competing directly with the larger airports.

“We provide a different type of service. We serve a niche market as around 40% of our passengers are business travellers.”

Walsh claims it is often forgotten that regional airports have to provide the same type of resources as large airports in terms of navigational aids, security and ground-handling services.

Walsh insists that a runway extension to handle such aircraft is not a priority as the 80-seater turboprop aircraft serving Galway are more than adequate to meet existing demand levels.

“It’s not crucial for our development. Our growth potential is with the existing fleet that use Galway, especially in the current climate,” states Walsh.

Although Walsh may not care to admit it, Galway’s future seems very much linked to the fortunes of Aer Arann, the only airline operating out of the airport since FlyBe pulled its services to Belfast, Southampton and Birmingham.

However, Walsh maintains that Aer Arann would welcome new carriers operating out of Galway and strongly disagrees with the notion airlines dictate the success or failures of regional airports in Ireland.

But, like other regional airports, Galway will have some concern that the Government may hold back some of the €6.3m funding it is due for its capital development programme over the next few years.

Galway main selling point can always be that it delivers passengers into the heart of the region’s main city.