Fears mount over future of Galway-Dublin route

Date Published: 25-Nov-2010

BY FRANK FARRAGHER

A €5.5M cut in financial support for Irish regional airports – announced in this week’s National Recovery Plan – could have major implications for Galway Airport and especially its service to and from Dublin.

The details of where the regional airport cuts will fall, are not now expected to be known until Budget Day (Tuesday, December 7), but there are fears that the Aer Arann, Galway to Dublin service could be affected.

Over recent months, management at Galway Airport have expressed serious concerns over the future of the overall facility, if the annual Government financial subvention of €2.3m wasn’t maintained.

A Government fund of approximately €15 million is available annually to six regional airports, but this week, Galway Chamber of Commerce and Galway Airport Management, said that they had no indication as to where the cuts would fall.

Under the transport section of the National Recovery Plan, an annual cut of €5.5m (36%) in that €15m fund for the regional airports is proposed.

Galway Airport Manager, Joe Walsh, told the Galway City Tribune that the ‘critical day’ for the airport was on December 7, when the details of the Budget would emerge.

“We are aware from the details of the Four Year Plan of the €5.5m cuts proposed in regional airport funding, but we have no further information on that.

While the biggest chunk of Galway Airport’s business is now on the ‘Luton run’ (40%), traffic to and from Dublin still represents over a quarter of passenger throughput. Over half of the arrivals from Dublin into Galway are booked outside the State, according to the Airport.

There are three Aer Arann daily departures from Galway to Dublin supported by the PSO funding (6.25am, 2.25pm and 5.25pm) as well as a ‘non subsidised’ departure at 7.30am.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.