A south-east success story
Last year, Waterford handled almost 119,000 passengers — an increase of about 43% on 2006 and the largest percentage increase recorded at any Irish airport.
Waterford has also continued to build steadily on last year’s results with passenger traffic in the first six months of 2008 already up 46% on the same period a year ago — figures that suggest it is likely to reach its target of 150,000 by the end of 2008.
Much of the growth can be related to the decision of Aer Arann to base one of its aircraft in Waterford since May last year and the airline now offers flights to nine destinations in Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe.
The airport authorities are particularly buoyed by Waterford’s four-times-a-week service to Amsterdam, which allows passengers from the south-east to connect to 190 onward destinations via the international hub at Schiphol.
The passenger figures are all the more impressive as Waterford is the only regional airport that does not derive any benefit from a Government-subsidised PSO (Public Service Obligation) route to Dublin.
Although Waterford has applied unsuccessfully for state funding for services that are regarded as socially desirable but economically unviable, the airport’s proximity to Dublin and the relative easy access to the capital via road and rail makes the prospect of it ever obtaining such a route highly improbable.
“We sell ourselves very much on the basis of convenience. We also encourage people to think of the total cost of their journey, including the hidden costs of travelling to other airports — the time and cost of overnight stays, road congestion and all-round stress,” said an airport spokeswoman.
“We see ourselves as a critical piece of infrastructure, offering an alternative and helping to achieve the Government’s regional balance objectives. We also believe that airports act as catalysts or energisers for economic activity within a region with inward investment decisions often depending on the availability of appropriate scheduled services.”
The airport is also home to two Sikorsky helicopters operated by the coastguard.
Waterford is also confident about becoming a more attractive option for local people over its main rivals — Dublin, Cork and Shannon. As the only airport within the south-east, Waterford believes it still has not reached its full potential to tap into its catchment area of 460,000 people covering Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow and south Tipperary.
An €8 million upgrade of approach roads to the airport along with plans for a bypass of the city should further enhance its appeal in the coming years and targets of 500,000 passengers annually are ambitious if not unrealistic.
However, Waterford is also anxious to attract other airlines as it realises its current success is totally linked to the commitment to the airport of Aer Arann, which itself faces stiff competition in the immediate future.
The airport may be even more concerned that funding for its €27.7m development plan could be under threat after the Government recently announced cutbacks for aid to the regional airports.
Waterford is dependent on the vast majority of the expenditure on its plan (€22.3m) to be provided under Transport 21, while its own operating profits fell from €261,000 in 2006 to €45,000 last year.
It is understood that airport authorities will seek reassurance that money will be available to fund the main element of its programme — the extension of the runway to 1,850 metres to enable Waterford to accommodate mid-sized jet aircraft.
Waterford believes such a development is crucial for its success as the extension will allow it target Ryanair, Aer Lingus and similar carriers to operate flights from 2010 onwards.
Although Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, has made cynical comments about Waterford’s viability, other senior Ryanair executives have admitted they would consider flights from the airport “if the price was right”.
Waterford bosses can be expected to remind the airline that landing charges at Cork, its nearest rival, remain relatively high compared with mostother Irish airports.
They will probably also hope that Ryanair is conscious of the airline’s special history with Waterford as it was from there that the carrier operated its first-ever scheduled flight back in 1985 to Gatwick.
However, experience suggests Mr O’Leary won’t allow such sentiment to colour his judgment on offering services from the south-east in future.
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