Kerry Airport - News & Updates

Casati · 20-12-2021 11:36pm

Has there been any further public announcements re the DUB-KIR route? Is it going to stay I wonder, fingers crossed we don't see Emerald Air on it anytime soon

Locker10a · 21-12-2021 12:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354239#Comment_118354239

I don’t think Ryanair will be staying on it long term …

Masala · 21-12-2021 12:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354239#Comment_118354239

.. what’s wrong with Emerald??

Quackster · 21-12-2021 12:53am

Have been on it a number of times now over the past few months. Always about 30-35% load factor I would estimate.

Casati · 21-12-2021 5:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354437#Comment_118354437

Why not? Have they mentioned anything?

Casati · 21-12-2021 5:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354478#Comment_118354478

I don't dislike Emerald but I'd bet you anything if they take over the fare will be back to the typical €95 'advance purchase price' that Aerlingus/ Stobart Air had, which is just too expensive for most people - certainly too expensive for me.

Ryanair typical €40/ €45 fare is cheaper than the train and cheaper than petrol/ diesel. If it was advertised I could see the load factor increasing greatly, especially when tourism gets back to normal

Locker10a · 21-12-2021 6:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357125#Comment_118357125

Because it’s not sustainable unless there’s suddenly an almighty shift in peoples domestic travel behavior… unlikely.

Ryanair are flying very very low number of passengers on the route relative to the capacity their jets provide. There are no doubt many many other routes they can fly in the future where they can actually fill that plane and make more money on fares. So it wouldn’t make business sense for them to continue with the route as it is. Maybe they’ll create a market for it but they didn’t before and same for Dublin-Cork route so I think it’s very unlikely.

Casati · 22-12-2021 4:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357327#Comment_118357327

Ryanair have proven they are able to change peoples travel behaviour with all their weird routes where they get tens of thousands flying into places they had never heard of before - a bit of local promotion would get a lot of people like me who typically Visit Dublin weekly moving off the train/ car onto the plane. Dublin- Cork is now less than two hours driving so flying make no sense from a time perspective so its not the same as Kerry which is generally 3.5 hours driving time.

I also applaud Ryanair for not taking public money to operate this route- where as Emerald will no doubt be going cap in hand for money if they take on the route in the future. Its a route that could also drive a lot of tourism into Kerry, something that doesn't seem to be marketed

Masala · 22-12-2021 4:58pm

I also applaud Ryanair for not taking public money to operate this route-

.....they might regret it now that they are on the route and they not getting the numbers they swore they would get!!! It must be hitting them badly in the pocket. Loads of tourist interlined into Kerry and that option now gone. Also different terminals a big problem. Not everything Ryanair touches turns to gold..... and they no Mother Teresa when it comes to having the hand out for financial supports.

faoiarvok · 31-12-2021 12:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361525#Comment_118361525

It’s not “cap in hand” when the Government is actually asking companies to tender for a contract…

Casati · 05-01-2022 3:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361734#Comment_118361734

Good point re booking through to KIR- I did it myself on trips to the U.S. and often the cost difference between DUB or KIR as destination was minimal - equally though the domestic market going to Kerry on holidays is massive, or indeed going there as part of a trip starting and ending in Dublin.

Is there a source you have for getting the numbers flying on this (or any) route?

Masala · 05-01-2022 8:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118421788#Comment_118421788

Passenger numbers for all airports can be found on the CSO site under Aviation Stats.

marno21 · 10-01-2022 1:05am

Dublin route down to 1 daily until the end of the month

All other Ryanair routes dropped for the month with the exception of 3x weekly Luton

embraer170 · 12-01-2022 10:53pm

Hahn is now cancelled for February too. The UK routes are still bookable.

lordleitrim · 20-01-2023 4:28pm

https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/ryanair-announces-increased-flights-from-kerry-airport-313676

In the absence of new routes, its nice to see increased frequencies for Alicante, Faro and Manchester.

embraer170 · 20-01-2023 4:47pm

A pity the Berlin flight isn't coming back.

Quackster · 20-01-2023 6:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134950#Comment_120134950

Alas, it never even had the opportunity to get off the ground to begin with.

Considering how strong Kerry is as a destination in the German market, it's strange that no progress has been made in developing routes between Kerry and Germany. Indeed, the frequency to Hahn is a lot less now than it was in the early years.

You would think that there'd be scope for a service to, say, Glasgow too.

yerwanthere123 · 21-01-2023 6:18pm

Why hasn't the Berlin flight come back though? It seemed to be pretty popular. I only flew it once but it was pretty close to full, and this was in January.

Came across this article too about a possible flight to Amsterdam being turned down, although I couldn't read due to the paywall.

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/kerry-amsterdam-flight-hopes-dashed-as-route-is-deemed-unviable-by-airlines-42290616.html

To be honest I'm not entirely sure how viable this would've been with daily flights from Cork. Might've been demand for a late morning flight as the Cork ones are 6am? Who knows.

Sikpupi · 21-01-2023 11:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134950#Comment_120134950

Ryanair are out of Schoenfeld..... and told they have to operate out of Brandenburg Airport. This is a full-cost airport with all the big boys flying in there (Aer Lingus/ Lufthansa/ Air France etc) and Ryanair wont pay the charges ... simple as!!!

'BERLIN' is now Brandenberg - there is no Tegal or Schoenfeld anymore.

Ryanair will pay the charges out of Dublin where they will get the fares and the masses ( as in the same model they have into Amsterdam...) as they have no choice but at least they are guaranteed to fill same at high fares. The days of flying to Berlin from Kerry for €100 return are GONE GONE GONE.

Same for any operator who thinks they can start a service from Kerry to Amsterdam Schipol..... the airport charges are going to be full charges and the key Landing slots will be kept for the big boys. Why would Kerry people think there is a need for an Amsterdam route.... it La La Land stuff.

yerwanthere123 · 21-01-2023 11:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120140211#Comment_120140211

Thanks for the explanation. Always good to know why functional routes disappear even if it isn't always what we want to hear!

Would there be any workable route to another European capital from Kerry where the airport charges wouldn't be so high?

cson · 22-01-2023 10:17pm

Eindhoven might work as a gateway to Amsterdam.

embraer170 · 22-01-2023 10:58pm

Weeze was attempted in 2010 (or was it 2011) but it didn't last longer than a season.

yerwanthere123 · 22-01-2023 11:37pm

Had no idea Weeze was ever a thing

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/news/red-carpet-day-for-new-german-route-27396487.html

Three flights a week was very optimistic at best for a town both an hour's drive from Dusseldorf and with very poor public transport links.

Any other Kerry routes that have been and gone over the years?

embraer170 · 22-01-2023 11:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120144136#Comment_120144136

Weeze isn't so badly located (probably better than Hahn). Fairly close to very densely populated parts of Belgium / the Netherlands / Germany.

In terms of other routes:

Aer Arann Kerry - Lorient in 2005ish.

Ryanair Kerry - Liverpool around 2006 (a switch from Cork protesting about airport charges). It might have been tried a second time some years later but I'm not 100% sure.

Ryanair Kerry - Grenoble tried for one winter season in 2008-2009.

Summer (Sunday?) Aer Lingus Kerry - Frankfurt / Kerry - Düsseldorf (sometimes via Dublin or a triangle) in the mid-1990s after the new runway opened. That market was later captured by Ryanair's Hahn flight.

Crossair summer charters to Zurich also in the 1990s.

embraer170 · 23-01-2023 5:12pm

Ryanair just put out their summer 2023 Kerry press release, which seems to include a little error:

"Ryanair, Europe’s no.1 airline, today (23 Jan) announced its new Kerry schedule for summer 2023, with 7 routes incl. popular summer hotspots like Alicante and Palma, as well as city break destinations like London, Manchester and Frankfurt.

With 7% more capacity than S22, Ryanair will carry over 350,000 passengers to/from Kerry Airport this summer, boosting tourism and connectivity for the region while supporting over 430 local jobs.

Ryanair’s Kerry summer 2023 schedule will deliver:

7 routes

76 weekly flights

7% capacity growth on S22

Increased frequencies on popular routes – Alicante & Manchester

350,000 passengers to/from Kerry

Supporting over 430 local jobs"

I count 7 routes without Palma, so I'm guessing it was mixed up with Faro. The 7% capacity growth is good news.

lordleitrim · 23-01-2023 9:46pm

Would be nice if Emerald considered some provincial UK city routes from Kerry. While Ryanair are doing a great job and apparently pax numbers to Dublin have doubled from 2019 since they took over from Stobart in the interim, I'm wary of having a single airline monopolising the commercial schedule of an airport.

I think Lanzarote, Birmingham and some French or Italian leisure destination would be great additions for the airport.

JCX BXC · 23-01-2023 10:14pm

Problem with Emerald airlines is the ATR's, fares would be too high to any UK city, leaving plenty of room for Ryanair to obliterate them.

If stobart didn't do those routes when they flew to Kerry, there's absolutely no chance now.

Airport is also limited by runway size I think I've heard before, a flight to Lanzarote may not be viable.

cson · 23-01-2023 11:13pm

ORK & SNN are each only 1.5hrs from KIR too.

Board Walker · 24-01-2023 2:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120143813#Comment_120143813

A bus and two trains to get to Amsterdam from Eindhoven. Not ideal

embraer170 · 24-01-2023 9:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120150808#Comment_120150808

True about the bus, but the trains from Eindhoven Central run every 10-15 minutes. Four trains an hour are direct, and one or two require a 4-5 min change in Utrecht (1 hour 20 min journey time for the train part).

I think the bigger issue is that Eindhoven has its own slot issues and is not even a Ryanair base anymore.

Kerry Airport - News & Updates

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