Disappointment as Aer Arann ends service at regional airport

The decision by Aer Arann to end its flights to and from Waterford Regional Airport, leaving the airport serviced by just one other airline on one route, has been met with disappointment.

Aer Arann, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, currently operates flights from Waterford to Manchester, London Luton, and London Southend, but announced yesterday it is ending those services on Jan 6.

Airport management are working to replace the lost routes. Flybe’s service to and from Birmingham is now the only route guaranteed for Waterford after the Jan 6.

The Government funds the airport to the tune of about €1m per annum, as it is seen as an important regional infrastructure hub.

John Deasy, Fine Gael TD for Waterford, said yesterday this subvention “will be continued to allow the airport to negotiate with other commercial airlines”.

Aer Arann said the suspension of services from Waterford was a “regrettable but necessary” move.

“We have worked hard to overcome recent challenges, built a successful new partnership with Aer Lingus and grown our passenger numbers,” said Aer Arann interim chief executive Sean Brogan. “If we are to protect and nurture these gains, we have got to concentrate resources on services that offer sustainable returns.

“Over recent months, the airline has conducted a network-wide evaluation of all routes. It was clear from this evaluation that our Waterford routes have not performed to a sustainable level. As a result, we have taken the decision to suspend all services from Waterford from January 6 next.”

Waterford Airport expressed disappointment with the decision. CEO Graham Doyle said the news was “clearly a blow” but the airport was aware of Aer Arann’s difficulties since before the airline went into examinership in 2010, “and continued to work with them through these challenges”.

Services were reduced on the airline’s “consistently high-performing London Luton route in favour of Southend Airport”, and the latter route performed “poorly by comparison” despite a major marketing push by Waterford Airport and its partners, said Mr Doyle.

He said “no effort is being spared” to replace these routes for 2013 and beyond. “While it’s very early days, we are guardedly optimistic that the business case for operating between Waterford and these important destinations will be attractive to another airline, as proved to be the case when Flybe took up the Birmingham route after it was dropped by Aer Arann,” he said.

Aer Arann, which has operated in Waterford since 2003, said all its employees based in Waterford will be “redeployed” in the company, while passengers with bookings for flights after Jan 6 will be contacted in the coming days and rebooked on alternative flights from other airports or given a full refund.

In better news for the aviation industry, the DAA and Shannon Airport announced the return of the US Airways daily service to Philadelphia after an absence of four years.

The service will commence on May 22 and is expected to generate an additional 30,000 passengers through Shannon Airport next year.