General Manager of Waterford Airport reveals key details: Timelines, construction and flights
Waterford Airport
The General Manager of Waterford Airport, Mr. Aidan Power, revealed key details into the long-awaited airport development this week.
He spoke in depth about where the airport investment is at currently, what construction works will be done, timelines for completion and where flights will be going.
In July of this year, a meeting was held with the Minister for Transport.
At the meeting, the Department came to the conclusion that a business case was needed, which would further delay the process of advancing the airport by about 12 months.
Speaking for the first time publicly about this meeting, Mr. Power said this week: “That was disappointing to the Airport Board and to the investors. It created difficulty for the Airport Board insofar as there is a deficit there, and to stay financially in the operation for that period of time was a difficult proposition.”
Following this meeting, The Comer brothers, who two years ago had committed €12 million to the airport, decided to pull out of their investment plans.
“The Comer brothers weren’t too happy with the outcome of the meeting, because it was a further delay," Mr. Power said.
“They informed William bolster, who’s the conduit we’re dealing with in regards to investment, that they were leaving the pitch and weren’t prepared to wait any longer. They were out.”
Mr. Power outlined that following the departure of the Comer Brothers, William Bolster, the largest shareholder of Waterford Airport, approached the board with a new proposal, which was the now approved €30 million offer from an unnamed American investor.
Mr. Power said the next steps will be an AGM with airport shareholders, which he says is likely to take place near the end of this month.
“If that is successful, then there would be a contract signing prior to year end,” he said.
If contacts are signed, construction work can commence in the first quarter of 2026.
Work will take nine to twelve months to complete.
The airport is shovel ready.
It’s runway is currently 1,400 metres by 30 metres, and so it will have to be extended on both ends and widened on both sides to achieve the necessary dimensions for the desired aircraft.
It is anticipated that the airport will facilitate Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 type planes, which are used for short to medium haul flights. Ryanair for example uses Boeing 737 aircraft almost exclusively.
The airport’s taxiways, which are the long paths that aircraft travel along to get to or return from the runway, will have to reformed, widened and restructured, as will the airport’s aprons, which is the area of the airport where aircraft are parked, loaded, unloaded and maintained.
The airfield lighting will also have to be restructured and upgraded as will aviation security.
"The terminal building will likely get minor upgrades," Mr. Power said.
“Every time I mention the building I’m getting a slightly glazed overlook,” he added.
“As we move from the runway in towards the building, the money will be used up quite quickly, and so I suspect the building as it sits today will get some small extensions and a facelift perhaps and maybe be revisited at a later date.”
Following the completion of construction works, the airport will need to be recertified by the Irish Aviation Authority to ensure it meets safety standards.
The target is to commence flights in the summer of 2027.
The extended runway should offer better route opportunities than what the airport could previously handle.
“The UK market is the initial jump, and holiday destinations, and then we can build on that,” Mr. Power said.
“We’re not under any illusions that it’ll be a slow burner. We’ll get back into markets we were in before, establish ourselves, and then move from there.
“The opportunities we have because of the aircraft type will be a lot better than where we were before when we were restricted to 1hr 30m flights.”
The airport ceased operations in 2016, after the now defunct airline VLM discontinued its Waterford routes.
VLM used to service London, Luton and Birmingham routes from Waterford, using a small Fokker 50 aircraft. The airport struggled due to the limited length of the runway, which could only accommodate these types of smaller aircrafts.
The approved runway extension and infrastructure upgrades will enable improved commercial passenger services and allow larger planes to fly in and out of the airport.
Mr. Power said that “it will also give people the opportunity to access price points that we wouldn’t have been able to offer before".
“We were previously restricted to turboprop aircraft and they always came with a premium. So the whole idea of this is to level the playing field, to get the upside of convenience and the upside of cost," he said.
“Of course, this is the new norm. We’re all to a certain degree, Ryanair-ised. People prefer to fly by jets, they prefer the price point of flying by jets and they prefer the timelines associated with jets.
“So this brings a lot to the table that up to now we weren’t in a position to do.”
Mr. Power added that road infrastructure surrounding the airport and the wider south east region has improved since the airport closed in 2016, which will also work in the venture’s favour.
“Years ago we might have said that we serve the southeast, but the old road structure wasn’t the best, so it might have been a slogan we used but I’m not sure if we were actually able to deliver on that," he said.
“But now that’s a lot different, you’ve got good access into Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Tipperary."
