Galway Airport - mega merge

irishgrover

bobbyss wrote: »

But you must have found it more convenient to have used Galway rather than using Knock or Shannon? It's a pity out airport failed, Galway being the capital of the West.

I did find it more convenient, when the roads were ****e, But as soon as the motorways opened to DUB and SNN then the advantages of Galway disappeared. The overall time advance of galway relative to DUB and SNN reduced significantly. But the associated pain (which had been offset by the time advantage) did not change. It still had limited services. It still had small, uncomfortable and slow aircraft. It was still more susceptible to weather related delays etc.
It was no coincidence that it's demise coincided with better infrastructure to other airports with better options.
Look, I'm a Galwegian and would love for the airport to be successful. But I also travel a lot (every week for the last few weeks for example) and from a business travel point of view, Galway airport is just not needed anymore..

lufties

Believe me I love the warm fuzzy feeling of being able to connect to regional parts of Ireland (especially since I live in London), but there really is too many Irish airports as there is..I looked at flying back to Shannon numerous times but its just too expensive (from lgw). Its a shame, I always just end up flying to Dub, and bus it home to Tipp.

gordongekko

Storm 10 wrote: »

Remember when the Galway Chamber were looking for 100k to keep it open, Leo Varadkar turned it down and the following week gave 400k to Waterford despite them having no flights because he is from that part of the World.

Hes from Dublin

Storm 10

gordongekko wrote: »

Hes from Dublin

Mother from Dungarven, either way he refused to help Galwat Airport to remain open if it had who knows where it would be today

spurscormac

Storm 10 wrote: »

Mother from Dungarven, either way he refused to help Galwat Airport to remain open if it had who knows where it would be today

Galway airport runway is too short to take standard jets that Ryanair or other airlines use on short haul routes.
Its bound on one side by a road, on the other by a sharp dip and then land owned by someone who refused to sell to allow the airport develop.

Net result was it was limited to small private jets and turbo prop planes that take almost twice as long to fly to destinations in the UK.
If you were looking to get a connection in Dublin airport, then you'd be there almost as quick by driving yourself with the motorway when you factor in time waiting around on the ground in Carnmore ahead of departure.

It's not really viable, with available services from SNN, Knock & Dublin easily accessible now.

Storm 10

spurscormac wrote: »

Galway airport runway is too short to take standard jets that Ryanair or other airlines use on short haul routes.
Its bound on one side by a road, on the other by a sharp dip and then land owned by someone who refused to sell to allow the airport develop.

Net result was it was limited to small private jets and turbo prop planes that take almost twice as long to fly to destinations in the UK.
If you were looking to get a connection in Dublin airport, then you'd be there almost as quick by driving yourself with the motorway when you factor in time waiting around on the ground in Carnmore ahead of departure.

It's not really viable, with available services from SNN, Knock & Dublin easily accessible now.

Did you fly from Galway when it was open, I used it a lot, Manchester one hour, London one hour twenty minutes, nothing wrong with those times.
Dublin 25 minutes. it was a great asset.

This is the aircraft they used to Malaga and Lorient in the summer, British Airways used to fly charters in this aircraft type to Galway during the Galway Races.

BeardySi

Storm 10 wrote: »

Did you fly from Galway when it was open, I used it a lot, Manchester one hour, London one hour twenty minutes, nothing wrong with those times.
Dublin 25 minutes. it was a great asset.

This is the aircraft they used to Malaga and Lorient in the summer, British Airways used to fly charters in this aircraft type to Galway during the Galway Races.

Problem is the 146 is an old aircraft and not at all fuel efficient. The cost of operating them on a marginal route like Galway is a killer. There's not many flying now, and once more types get passed for LCY operations the few remaining operators will drop them like a hot snot.

The runway in Carnmore just isn't suitable for a Airbus, Boeing, Embraer etc, and without being able to operate those, airlines won't bother flying there. Even the ATRs regularly had to divert to Shannon due to adverse crosswinds in Galway (since the runway isn't exactly aligned into the prevailing winds).

If there was an airport capable of handling jets in Galway it would probably do well and possibly threaten knock, but one that can only handle turbos (and only just barely) will never be able to operate without big subsidies.

It would, and should, make a great private airfield - no problems operating bizjets etc or GA. Why they haven't done that is baffling. It has the potential to be a fantastic GA field given its location, business links, tourist potential etc but we'll never see commercial passenger ops again.

lufties

BeardySi wrote: »

Problem is the 146 is an old aircraft and not at all fuel efficient. The cost of operating them on a marginal route like Galway is a killer. There's not many flying now, and once more types get passed for LCY operations the few remaining operators will drop them like a hot snot.

The runway in Carnmore just isn't suitable for a Airbus, Boeing, Embraer etc, and without being able to operate those, airlines won't bother flying there. Even the ATRs regularly had to divert to Shannon due to adverse crosswinds in Galway (since the runway isn't exactly aligned into the prevailing winds).

If there was an airport capable of handling jets in Galway it would probably do well and possibly threaten knock, but one that can only handle turbos (and only just barely) will never be able to operate without big subsidies.

It would, and should, make a great private airfield - no problems operating bizjets etc or GA. Why they haven't done that is baffling. It has the potential to be a fantastic GA field given its location, business links, tourist potential etc but we'll never see commercial passenger ops again.

Good point. Yes its true the 146\RJ is no longer viable. There is now a plethora of regional jets to choose from, to get to lcy.

Storm 10

While I agree with a lot of your posts I still think it's madness to keep a perfectly good Airport closed. it could and should be a wonderful asset to the City and the private and Corporate Aviation in Galway and to the Tourism industry and of course the emergency services

kellsum

For me its a no brainer, its 2.5 hour bus/drive to Dublin plus 2 hour check in that's half a day gone already when we have a perfectly good airport on our doorstep, Using SHN for flights is a lot easier but flight times are limited as are buses (Uk bound anyway)
It absolutely needs investment and perhaps if it the council or chamber of commerce for Galway thought about this it would make Galway a more attractive place for business investment even on the east side of Galway.

J.pilkington

kellsum wrote: »

It absolutely needs investment and perhaps if it the council or chamber of commerce for Galway thought about this it would make Galway a more attractive place for business investment even on the east side of Galway.

I don't understand this point at all. Do you really think that a multinational company won't invest in Galway because of airlinks? Do you realise that not every city has an international airport on their doorstep and do okay.

International airlinks to Galway are just fine (Dublin , Shannon (us direct links and Heathrow so all boxes ticked)

Plenty of bigger infrastructural projects would give a massively greater return on investment which is in short supply.

marno21

There is currently a motorway being built to BOTH Shannon and Knock, along with a motorway to an airport with frequent short haul and a wide range of long haul flights.

Galway has no economic viability whatsoever.

Psychlops wrote: »

You are really going to compare a major international airport like Shannon with all its destinations to Carnmore? Are you for real?

Shannon is not a major international airport. It has flights to London, regional flights to a couple of UK cities, a few sun flights and the odd charter, and between 2 and 6 flights to the US. It's an international airport but no longer certainly not a major one.

Storm 10 wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason why it could not be kept operational for Corporate jets and the private sector, do any of you remember when we could fly to London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cork, Belfast and Lorient and Malaga in Summer. I guarantee you if it was open again and flights were to resume it would hit Knock and Shannon big time as people would use it

Remember when the Galway Chamber were looking for 100k to keep it open, Leo Varadkar turned it down and the following week gave 400k to Waterford despite them having no flights because he is from that part of the World.

If it were kept open just for corporate jets the cost per jet would be uncompetitive with Shannon and Knock.

Shannon and Knock are both now around 40-45 minutes from Galway and you can fly to all the above destinations from either one.

kellsum wrote: »

For me its a no brainer, its 2.5 hour bus/drive to Dublin plus 2 hour check in that's half a day gone already when we have a perfectly good airport on our doorstep, Using SHN for flights is a lot easier but flight times are limited as are buses (Uk bound anyway)
It absolutely needs investment and perhaps if it the council or chamber of commerce for Galway thought about this it would make Galway a more attractive place for business investment even on the east side of Galway.

Galway Airport has had its time. It could be reopened for light aircraft but who's going to pay for that? There is little point in trying to get it up to speed for 737s cos then you're going to only split the traffic between the 3 west coast airports and might have none viable.

It's the same issue in the UK in areas such as the south west with Bristol/Cardiff/Exeter/Newquay all competing for flights or Blackpool airport trying to compete with Manchester/Liverpool/Leeds-Bradford.

The new Waterford airline hasn't gotten all relevant licences yet - first scheduled flights cancelled and refunded, no further flights bookable.

Storm 10

It was doomed from the start, no operator licence applied for they just went and started to sell tickets for routes they could not fly, it does not inspire confidence in this new South East Airline, also using a Slovenian Airline Lipican Aer to fly the routes if a licence is ever granted.

Cheshire Cat

Doesn't sound professional at all

Will be interesting to see how the matter develops.

Have you heard the one about how the outcome of Brexit will have some impact on the future use of Galway Airport.......

I wonder if there's a charter flight to Cloud Cuckooland

OFFICIALS URGED TO CONSIDER BREXIT WHEN FORMULATING PLAN FOR GALWAY AIRPORT

https://galwaybayfm.ie/officials-urged-to-consider-brexit-when-formulating-plan-for-galway-airport/

dok_golf

park and ride, it's a no brainer.

dok_golf

dok_golf wrote: »

park and ride, it's a no brainer.

Tried and failed as the buses just ended up stuck in traffic too so it ended up being a detour that only added to the journey.

For a P&R to work it must be significantly more convenient than just driving past it in the car

But I take your point

dok_golf

P & R with dedicated bus lanes, proper infrastructure i.e. multiple bus shelters in airport, high frequency of buses. Give it over to one of the private airport firms.

flazio

I presume you just mean to use the car park that's already there rather than close the runway that Galway flying club are still regularly using and park all of Galways cars on that.

Where was the P&R stuck in traffic? All it has to do is get as far as ballybane crossroads 8 it can join the 409’s bus lanes in...

ben.schlomo

Deleted User wrote: »

Where was the P&R stuck in traffic? All it has to do is get as far as ballybane crossroads 8 it can join the 409’s bus lanes in...

You do know that the bus lane is only on part of the route yes? So lots of places to get caught in traffic.

donalod1965

can the airport not be opened up again for flights?

D Trent

donalod1965 wrote: »

can the airport not be opened up again for flights?

Maybe for flights of stairs and that's about it

Storm 10

D Trent wrote: »

Maybe for flights of stairs and that's about it

Got a friend working in Aviation who told me that Galway would have no problem getting flights back with the likes of Stobart Air who operate the Aer Arann aircraft that used to be based here given how the economy is booming again, also don't forget the company aircraft the were coming in and operated by companies based in Galway

Johnny901

Storm 10 wrote: »

Got a friend working in Aviation who told me that Galway would have no problem getting flights back with the likes of Stobart Air who operate the Aer Arann aircraft that used to be based here given how the economy is booming again, also don't forget the company aircraft the were coming in and operated by companies based in Galway

I don't think so, Stobart are operating mainly on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional, with Shannon and Knock so close it would be very hard to get them in.

Also a lot of key staff (ATC and Airport Fire Service) have moved on.

Getting the airport certified to take scheduled flights for ATRs would not be easy I am sorry to say.

donalod1965

bet u the shannon and knock squad would do everything in their power to stop it anyway ..

irishgrover

Storm 10 wrote: »

Got a friend working in Aviation who told me that Galway would have no problem getting flights back with the likes of Stobart Air who operate the Aer Arann aircraft that used to be based here given how the economy is booming again, also don't forget the company aircraft the were coming in and operated by companies based in Galway

Respectfully, imho your friend is taking ****e. Given a.) The limitations of range of flights due to runway length and b) the ease at which customers can now get to Dublin and Shannon and knock airports makes Galway airport redundant....

Storm 10

irishgrover wrote: »

Respectfully, imho your friend is taking ****e. Given a.) The limitations of range of flights due to runway length and b) the ease at which customers can now get to Dublin and Shannon and knock airports makes Galway airport redundant....

When Galway was open the UK flights were the main market for them, these are the routes Stobart/Aer Lingus currently operate and would be the most attractive routes for Galway, you do realise that you could fly from Galway to Spain and France during their Summer schedules when the Airport was open , negativity will never get it open again .

Storm 10

Storm 10 wrote: »

negativity will never get it open again .

Considering the passenger numbers at its peak are in line with the Western Rail Corridor, and thats as big a farce as you'll ever see in the west, I think its safe to saw nothing short of a miracle will ever get it open again.

there weren't enough passengers, even at its peak, to even warrant a bus service in and out of the city. That should tell you all you need to know

As for all the companies bringing exec's into Galway, a 1 hr ride from Shannon is not that big of a deal and would not be unusual.