Galway Airport - mega merge

notharrypotter

antoobrien wrote: »

It was in local press several times over the years.

A link please and not to the free sheets.

Preferably a government site.

bluecorp

Why is everyone still discussing the possibility of operating airline services out of Galway? That bird has well and truly flown. If the Oranmore site was developed when the opportunity arose then maybe Knock would be the airport in trouble today. It wasn't and I've seen it suggested that the reason was to protect Aer Arann, which at the time was owned by a certain 'successful' Galway businessman, from competition from the likes of Ryanair.

But that's all history and irrelevant to the current situation. Right now the airport has re-opened as a general aviation airport. It will make money for the owners and the operator if it's marketed properly.

notharrypotter:

Ad-hoc executive jet operations while of interest to plane spotters will not pay for much.
Aero club and light general aviation would pay even less.
Unless of course the operator is paying nothing to the owners.

Worked much in general aviation have you? Selling fuel alone is very lucrative. In the US, Fixed base operators at general aviation airports in cities similar to Galway make nearly all their money from selling fuel to visiting aircraft. They'll even lend you a car to travel into town and as much free coffee as you can drink while sitting in a comfortable pilot's lounge. There is no reason the same thing won't work here.

You can make a lot of money out of general aviation. I've seen it done in this country. It just takes the correct amount of wit and vision to make it happen.

Forget about airlines coming back to Galway. That won't happen soon.

bluecorp

Why is everyone still discussing the possibility of operating airline services out of Galway? That bird has well and truly flown. If the Oranmore site was developed when the opportunity arose then maybe Knock would be the airport in trouble today. It wasn't and I've seen it suggested that the reason was to protect Aer Arann, which at the time was owned by a certain 'successful' Galway businessman, from competition from the likes of Ryanair.

But that's all history and irrelevant to the current situation. Right now the airport has re-opened as a general aviation airport. It will make money for the owners and the operator if it's marketed properly.

notharrypotter:

Ad-hoc executive jet operations while of interest to plane spotters will not pay for much.
Aero club and light general aviation would pay even less.
Unless of course the operator is paying nothing to the owners.

Worked much in general aviation have you? Selling fuel alone is very lucrative. In the US, Fixed base operators at general aviation airports in cities similar to Galway make nearly all their money from selling fuel to visiting aircraft. They'll even lend you a car to travel into town and as much free coffee as you can drink while sitting in a comfortable pilot's lounge. There is no reason the same thing won't work here.

You can make a lot of money out of general aviation. I've seen it done in this country. It just takes the correct amount of wit and vision to make it happen.

Forget about airlines coming back to Galway. That won't happen soon.

notharrypotter

Why is everyone still discussing the possibility of operating airline services out of Galway?

Because that's the only thing that will support the infrastructure in place.

Selling fuel alone is very lucrative.

The concept of a glorified petrol station has been mooted before.

They'll even lend you a car to travel into town and as much free coffee as you can drink while sitting in a comfortable pilot's lounge.

The general aviation "scene" in Ireland is no where as developed as the US.
The costs are not comparable.

Out of curiosity how much is AVGAS in the US as oppose to Ireland.
And JET-A1 while we are at it?

You can make a lot of money out of general aviation. I've seen it done in this country

People are touting the success that is Abbeyshrule and proposing that Galway can do the same.

The infrastructure in Galway is over engineered for an Abbeyshrule type of operation.
And for Galway to make any attempt will not bring much further in terms of activity but will adversely affect the current operations in Abbeyshrule and Waterford.

Worked much in general aviation have you?

Enough to see when the Emperor has no clothes.

bluecorp

I'm at a loss to how you can characterise the presence of infrastructure as a negative. All that's really needed there are the hangars and runway. You can bulldoze the rest.

I mentioned fuel as one example. There are other revenue raising possibilities. A flight school for example could use the infrastructure, not to mention the runway.

GA may be less developed in Ireland but that doesn't mean there is no potential. Take for example the skydive company that operated out of Galway in 2013. Seven days a week, two aeroplanes. Forced out of Galway they bought Kilkenny airfield and continued to be successful. Where do you think they got the money to pay for it all? Who'd have said a few years ago that Ireland could sustain three parachute dropzones, one full time? The business is there. Someone needs to exploit it.

Fuel costs are more in Ireland as you well know. But any airfield that offers competitive fuel prices with attract custom.

You mention Abbeyshrule. It's a busy little field in the middle of nowhere. No one has any reason to visit the place other than to visit the airfield itself. That cannot be said of Galway and again exactly how is the infrastructure a negative?

Also frankly if a successful Galway impacts other airfields then maybe they should take note?

Enough of the negativity. Time will tell. In any case, in my opinion the right people are in place right now to turn this into a decent profitable business.

JillyQ

bluecorp wrote: »

Why is everyone still discussing the possibility of operating airline services out of Galway? That bird has well and truly flown. If the Oranmore site was developed when the opportunity arose then maybe Knock would be the airport in trouble today. It wasn't and I've seen it suggested that the reason was to protect Aer Arann, which at the time was owned by a certain 'successful' Galway businessman, from competition from the likes of Ryanair.

But that's all history and irrelevant to the current situation. Right now the airport has re-opened as a general aviation airport. It will make money for the owners and the operator if it's marketed properly.

notharrypotter: Worked much in general aviation have you? Selling fuel alone is very lucrative. In the US, Fixed base operators at general aviation airports in cities similar to Galway make nearly all their money from selling fuel to visiting aircraft. They'll even lend you a car to travel into town and as much free coffee as you can drink while sitting in a comfortable pilot's lounge. There is no reason the same thing won't work here.

You can make a lot of money out of general aviation. I've seen it done in this country. It just takes the correct amount of wit and vision to make it happen.

Forget about airlines coming back to Galway. That won't happen soon.

Agree with you about oranmore. If that had got the go ahead at the time the capability would have been there to land a 747. However i hope the airport will be run profitable and be of use to the people of Galway in general.

WallyGUFC

Why exactly did the skydiving go? Was pretty cool watching them from time to time. Was it not profitable?

Of course it will never be a fully functional international airport at this stage but if somebody finds a use for it, like selling fuel, a pilot school, skydiving or whatever then fair play to them. The council owns it doesn't it?

Storm 10

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Why exactly did the skydiving go? Was pretty cool watching them from time to time. Was it not profitable?

Of course it will never be a fully functional international airport at this stage but if somebody finds a use for it, like selling fuel, a pilot school, skydiving or whatever then fair play to them. The council owns it doesn't it?

Skydiving had to move when the licence expired , now the licence is back and the Airport open I hear they will be back.

notharrypotter

Why exactly did the skydiving go?

Kilkenny.

Was it not profitable?

For Skydive very much so.



For Galway airport?

See landing charges and you do the math.

Skydiving had to move when the licence expired

Actually not true they continued operations after the licence expired.

now the licence is back and the Airport open I hear they will be back

They now own the airfield in Kilkenny.

The council owns it doesn't it

Yes.

The question the citizens of Galway must ask is how much did the local authorities pay for it.

And how much if anything they are getting from the licencee.

But any airfield that offers competitive fuel prices with attract custom

Define competitive.

You mention Abbeyshrule. It's a busy little field in the middle of nowhere. No one has any reason to visit the place other than to visit the airfield itself.

Abbeyshrule is a success because of a number of aviation related activities that take place there.

I'm at a loss to how you can characterise the presence of infrastructure as a negative

Over engineered for use as a general aviation airport.

Galway tried and failed to trade on its location.

It may become a successful general aviation airport but when the repairs become necessary who will end up footing the bill?

WallyGUFC

€1.1 million apparently is what they paid.
So the council owns it and is leasing it to this company which also leases Weston, is that right? If so, how much is the lease?

yew_tree

antoobrien wrote: »

All they need is 700m-800m of runway to get an equivalent to the main runway in Cork or the second one in Dublin. Another 200m gets them to the same length as knock.

Ireland does not have any runway 700-800m long. Dublin runway is 2,637, Shannon is the longest at 3,199 which was a designated landing site for the NASA shuttle program when it was in operation.

Knock airport runway is 2,340m long - enough for a 747 which I have seen land there.

Cork's runway is 2,133m so Knock has a longer runway than Cork.

antoobrien

yew_tree wrote: »

Ireland does not have any runway 700-800m long. Dublin runway is 2,637, Shannon is the longest at 3,199 which was a designated landing site for the NASA shuttle program when it was in operation.

Knock airport runway is 2,340m long - enough for a 747 which I have seen land there.

Cork's runway is 2,133m so Knock has a longer runway than Cork.

The runway is 1289m, so what I should have said was EXTRA runway.

joeKel73

Saw (from Parkmore) a fairly sizeable plane land this evening around 5PM. Went out for a snoop hoping to see a nice private jet but couldn't spot anything from the road.

Any tracking or info available for these private flights?

Aerohead

There was a big one there yesterday doing mapping of the West Coast, the Air Corps and Coastguard are going in for refuel as well. I missed two large company jets that were in last week but great that there is activity there again.

snubbleste

All those of you who think you know what Galway Airport should be...
You'll be delighted to hear that your opinion is finally warranted.

TerrorFirmer

WallyGUFC wrote: »

€1.1 million apparently is what they paid.
So the council owns it and is leasing it to this company which also leases Weston, is that right? If so, how much is the lease?

I think whatever is in place expires in early summer.

Councillors debating what should happen with the site at the moment. One wants it to be a new massive health campus bringing UHG and Merlin together. Some want it to continue to operate as an airport.

serfboard

snubbleste wrote: »

All those of you who think you know what Galway Airport should be...
You'll be delighted to hear that your opinion is finally warranted.

Galway's version of Adamstown (IMHO).

snubbleste

I'm still going for car park and possibly a Super theme park ice rink music stadium velodrome satellite tracking facility google server storage shopping mall tree nursey taxi rank outdoor market on wheels

apoeiguq3094y

snubbleste wrote: »

I'm still going for car park and possibly a Super theme park ice rink music stadium velodrome satellite tracking facility google server storage shopping mall tree nursey taxi rank outdoor market on wheels

They could call it the "World's Greatest Super theme park ice rink music stadium velodrome satellite tracking facility google server storage shopping mall tree nursey taxi rank outdoor market on wheels"

Dan_Solo

snubbleste wrote: »

All those of you who think you know what Galway Airport should be...
You'll be delighted to hear that your opinion is finally warranted.

Oh great. Another few hundred thousand flushed down the ****ter on consultancy fees no doubt.

snubbleste

None of us came up with this idea.

Film studio plan for airport
Galway Chamber of Commerce said that the two hangars would make ideal studios as they were the right size and right height.
The runway would be maintained so that film stars could be flown in.

yer man!

Was really hoping for a flight school but I guess that's a no go

bonzodog2

yer man! wrote: »

Was really hoping for a flight school but I guess that's a no go

If enough people wanted it, why not?

I'm just back from visiting my cousin in Newtownards (Co Down) There's a very active small airfield there, light planes, autogyros, microlites, etc up and down every few minutes!

JillyQ

yer man! wrote: »

Was really hoping for a flight school but I guess that's a no go

are you looking to do lessons for light aircraft or commerical? If its the first one contact galway flying club, if its commerical you are looking at cork or possibly dublin or shannon.

yer man!

JillyQ wrote: »

are you looking to do lessons for light aircraft or commerical? If its the first one contact galway flying club, if its commerical you are looking at cork or possibly dublin or shannon.

Just light aircraft, want to get my PPL over the next few years and then maybe see in the future if this is something I seriously want to look at as a career. What's gonna happen the GFC now? will they just move it to an airfield or something if the airport is gonna go?

yer man!

bonzodog2 wrote: »

If enough people wanted it, why not?

I'm just back from visiting my cousin in Newtownards (Co Down) There's a very active small airfield there, light planes, autogyros, microlites, etc up and down every few minutes!

Yeah I know Coonagh down in Limerick is fairly active with similar aircraft and have flight lessons running out of it. Be great if something similar could start up here and future scope to flights to the islands or something. Seems a pity to just throw away a runway that can accept a 737 with a short takeoff package to become a film studio or something mad.

Aerohead

I think the visit of Prince Charles to Galway shows how important it is for a City like Galway to have an Airport, there were several private jets in today for the visit and it was used all day by Garda and Air Corps helicopters to refuel, It does not have to have commercial traffic but its there and it is being used and maybe at sometime we may get some scheduled flights back again, now that we are pushing for Galway as the City of culture 2020 it is important to have an Airport.

kippy

Aerohead wrote: »

I think the visit of Prince Charles to Galway shows how important it is for a City like Galway to have an Airport, there were several private jets in today for the visit and it was used all day by Garda and Air Corps helicopters to refuel, It does not have to have commercial traffic but its there and it is being used and maybe at sometime we may get some scheduled flights back again, now that we are pushing for Galway as the City of culture 2020 it is important to have an Airport.

How many cities of culture have their own airport?

Storm 10

kippy wrote: »

How many cities of culture have their own airport?

I think you will find that all of these past Cities of Culture have an Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Capital_of_Culture

kippy

Storm 10 wrote: »

I think you will find that all of these past Cities of Culture have an Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Capital_of_Culture

Really?