Longer runway the key issue

WITH its runway jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, the approach to Sligo Airport is one of the most picturesque (and for nervous types, most hair-raising) locations of any Irish airport.

Alas, scenery is not a significant attribute for ensuring the continuing viability of the state’s smallest airport, which is located 8km outside Sligo town in Strandhill.

Regularly identified as the most vulnerable of all Ireland’s regional airports, Sligo’s airport manager Joe Corcoran and his staff could be forgiven for adopting a fatalistic attitude in the face of such negativity.