Waterford Airport

[Captain Planet]

Positive news for Waterford;

https://m.independent.ie/business/irish/billionaire-comer-brothers-have-agreed-to-pay-up-to-20m-to-buy-waterford-airport-41903865.html

https://www.wlrfm.com/news/waterford-airport-comer-brothers-263881

[LTNman]

Think Stobart and what has happened at Carlisle. The clue here is it that they are property developers and have never run an airport.

[EI-BUD]

I don't see any reason why this airport cannot support a low cost carrier (there is an obvious one) with for flights to and from London and seasonal flights to/from Europe. Given the ease of use at smaller regional airports it might just become attractive.

Luton was the most popular route.

[cavokblues]

Maybe if / when extended they might have a few services from the likes of Ryanair, maybe similar to Knock's operations, but the motorway improvements up to Dublin have been the death knell for any regional operator since Aer Arann and probably would severely impact any viability of any future operations.

[840]

For me, Waterford's challenge is its location south of the city. This means that for those coming from Kilkenny or Wexford, it's not much handier than Dublin, while for the west of County Waterford, Cork is almost as handy. The poor choice of location is not unique to Waterford in Ireland, but it effectively means it needs to find enough traffic in Waterford City rather than the larger South-East region.

[davidjohnson6]

Does MOL ever do old fashioned sentimality...and does he have any kind of soft spot for WAT... or is he just a hard-nosed genius focussed on profit ?

[SealinkBF]

Hard-nosed. Didn't he register his car as a taxi to avoid certain taxes? And his house as a stately home to get charity status?

[cavokblues]

I guess if MOL had sentiment Ryanair would have been bust about about 30 years whilst they tried to make a profit offering full service on EMB110's and ATR's

[LTNman]

A profitable route for an airline could still mean massive loses for the airport.

[EI-BUD]

A profitable route for an airline could still mean massive loses for the airport.

Clearly.
The purchase is going ahead and we wish the buyer well. I think there is potential volume sufficient to sustain this little airport. Parking etc is big revenue generator for airports so hopefully it can draw good numbers from the general reguon. It is after all where Ryanair started out.

[Consol]

I don't see any reason why this airport cannot support a low cost carrier (there is an obvious one) with for flights to and from London and seasonal flights to/from Europe. Given the ease of use at smaller regional airports it might just become attractive.

Luton was the most popular route.

Luton was the only route. The runway is too short for jets, turboprops have relatively high operating costs, the motorway to Dublin is too good and Cork and Dublin are roughly equidistant.

A lovely little airport to visit, helpful staff and a nice part of Ireland to plan a trip to but let's take the cargo hub and loco operator stuff with a pinch of salt.

[NLC1072]

Luton was the only route. The runway is too short for jets, turboprops have relatively high operating costs, the motorway to Dublin is too good and Cork and Dublin are roughly equidistant.

A lovely little airport to visit, helpful staff and a nice part of Ireland to plan a trip to but let's take the cargo hub and loco operator stuff with a pinch of salt.
There's a runway extension/widening planned in the takeover as well.

[The 5Q]

Runway extension is generally ready to go

https://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/projects/airport-runway-extension/index.htm

5Q

[Captain Planet]

Some further news coming out of Waterford, seems like momentum is gathering;

Waterford News & Star 15 November, 2022

Runway extension to start in Q1 2023

By Darren Skelton

THE Waterford News & Star understands that construction of the new runway at Waterford Airport will commence in the first quarter of 2023.

The build will take nine months, during which time the airport will be closed for all but emergency search and rescue services.

Staff at the airport were briefed last week on the new plan, which has been assisted by an investment by the Comer Group who will share 80% ownership in the airport with William Bolster, with the rest made up by Waterford City & County Council (18%) and smaller shareholders (2%).

The plan has always been dependent on the Government providing funding which had been previously committed to, but like the North Quays, a new business case had to be submitted due to the rising construction costs

Construction of the new runway at Waterford Airport is expected to take nine months to complete.

It is believed that verbal assurances have been given regarding this funding and a decision will be made once the business case is submitted. That was expected to happen in October but some design changes has delayed the final costings. This is expected to be resolved before Christmas, with a Government decision to follow shortly after.

Speaking earlier this year, the Airport Chairman, Dan Browne said that a PWC report into the viability of the airport suggested investment could lead to the employment of 100 people and generate an annual income of €4.5m..

Mr Browne said: "If we get 5,000 overseas visitors the State will make €730,000 every year. There are also 100 direct and indirect jobs."

The new development will involve an extension of the existing 1,433 metre long runway by 491 metres at its northern end and 363 at its southern end, resulting in a total runway length of 2,287 metres and the widening of the existing and extended runway from 30 metres in width to 45 metres in width. This will create a runway that can accommodate large commercial passenger aircraft, such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s.

When asked what airlines they were expecting to receive interest from, an Airport source told the Waterford News & Star "build it and they will come":
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1580x2000/c296b189_2ad1_4008_a7a8_918257be8209_b3951a019da0c9397babe71 e0f626a033ca9d9e9.jpeg

[cavokblues]

If they're prepared to hand out considerable sweeteners I'm sure Ryanair will fancy a few flights.

[Pain in the R's]

More money then sense. The airport will run at a permanent loss.

[VickersVicount]

‘Build it and they’ll come’ what, like Doncaster?

[The 5Q]

Ryanair have made a statement that they will look at a London service once the runway is completed.

I'd say a deal is already done but they are not announcing it yet.

[Captain Planet]

Ryanair have made a statement that they will look at a London service once the runway is completed.

I'd say a deal is already done but they are not announcing it yet.


And last I heard, FR has a LTN base. Easy drop in for FR for a quieter off peak time to test the water initially. Then, if the route is sustainable, which I expect it will be on a 189 seater with decent yield, perhaps more convenient timings together with a robust schedule can be introduced.

Emerald may also fancy a crack as their ORK plans have been prematurely negated by the plethora of new FR routes launched recently.

CP.

[840]

The investment for 854m of extra runway would need more than one flight a day to London to justify it.

I can imagine summer flights to Malaga and Faro working, and maybe a Winter Canaries flight. Are there any other possibles? Maybe Birmingham in an ATR, although that wouldn't need the extension.

[cavokblues]

Manchester, Birmingham and London I guess for UK.

Agree re the Spain summer destinations are maybe a leftfield EU destination like Ryanair have at Knock, ie Milan? (depending where they can find some incentives from airport partners)

[840]

Well as it's extremely unlikely that Ryanair will base an aircraft in Waterford, I guess you are looking at somewhere that Ryanair have a large base, so it's not impacting a well-performing route. All the better if it's a large base with no route to Cork, so they don't cannibalise an existing route. Porto might fit the crteria. A Polish service may be another option and there's no service to Warsaw from the South

[Captain Planet]

Local media in Waterford are reporting tonight that a possible €30 million investment of Waterford Airport will be announced by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath on Friday;

BIG NEWS EXPECTED THIS FRIDAY FOR WATERFORD AIRPORT…Damien Tiernan has the latest…more on WLR in the morning… (https://x.com/wlrfm/status/1729971955707613396?s=46&t=XYcCVejyDW2x9PQuQMr2IQ)

CP.

[compton3bravo]

A 30 million Euro investment announced today with the runway being extended to take A320 aircraft. First scheduled service to Luton must be odds on.