Airport ups and downs

Waterford Airport

Capability: Small, executive-style jets and turbo-prop aircraft. Passengers: 20,000 per annum. Traffic movements: Estimated less than 1,000 per annum. Development plan: Waterford Regional Airport says it needs £6 million to expand the runway to take commercial jet traffic, and £500,000 a year for five years until it is self-sufficient.

Waterford Regional Airport has just one scheduled flight on weekdays, with two on a Saturday. From July, for a period of about six weeks, the airport will facilitate a scheduled daily service between Waterford and Luton operated by Suckling Airways. All these planes are turbo prop aircraft. Waterford Airport is not capable of handling commercial jets, although small private jets have been using the airport at a rate of about one per day. The management of the airport recently announced a development plan costed at £6 million. The airport chairman, Dr Cormac McNamara, says the airport could close within 18 months if the money is not forthcoming.

Cork Airport

Capability: Major trans-Atlantic commercial passenger jets. Passengers: A record 1.3 million in 1998. Traffic movements: 37,742 in 1998. Development plan: £40 million business and technology park.

Cork Airport is backed by Aer Rianta, which also operates Dublin and Shannon airports. Cork contributed £3.8 million to overall Aer Rianta results and became operational on a 24-hour basis last year. The first phase of the airport's £40 million business and technology park has been completed. Capital expenditure, mainly on runway improvements, came to £8.2 million, an increase of £3 million on 1997.

Kerry Airport

Capability: The largest planes so far handled by Kerry Airport are 250-seat Boeing 757s, which are not regular visitors. Passengers: Kerry Airport processed 156,000 people in 1998. Traffic movements: 5,600 in 1998. Development plan: £5 million required for terminal buildings.

Kerry Airport has two Aer Lingus flights, and one Ryanair flight per day. A second Ryanair flight will be added from July 1st. Flights out of Kerry go to Dublin and London Stansted daily and Frankfurt and Dusseldorf once a week. Kerry Airport is a public limited company with approximately 3,500 shareholders. It is currently engaged in a £5 million development plan for the terminal buildings.

Shannon Airport

Capability: Major transatlantic commercial jets. Passengers: 1.84 million. Traffic movements: 45,776 in 1998. Development plan: £40 million on terminal facilities and road access to be completed this year.

Contributed £3.5 million to overall Aer Rianta results in 1998. Terminal traffic rose by seven per cent for the third record-breaking year in a row. Terminal traffic (passenger journeys which originate in Shannon) now account for 78 per cent of total throughput. The ending of duty free will hurt, as record sales of £15 million were achieved in 1998.

Galway Regional Airport

Capability: In the region of 70-seat aircraft. Passengers: 100,000 passengers in 1998. Traffic movements: Up to 8,000 per annum. Development plan: £5 million required to upgrade the runway to cater for 120-seat craft.

Aer Lingus operates a 50seat Fokker 50 out of Galway to Dublin three times a day. There are also seasonal charter flights to Jersey operated by Aer Arann. The airport is planning a development to extend the runway to increase capacity from the present 50 to 70-seat capacity to cater for 120-seat craft.

Knock International Airport

Capability: Can land Boeing 747s. Passengers: 200,000 in 1998. Traffic movements: circa 7,000 in 1998. Development plan: £30 million airport and industrial zone strategy. £6.5 million between 2000 and 1006.

Owned by Horan International Airport Trust, named after its founder, the late Monsignor James Horan, and operated for the benefit of the people of Connacht and Mayo in particular.

This is the shining success story of the Republic's regional airports. Knock has two Ryanair flights a day to Stansted - three in the high season - with four British Airways flights a week to Manchester, and one Aer Lingus flight per week to Birmingham.

Sligo Regional Airport

Capability: Small, 1200-metre apron lends itself to turbo-prop and light aircraft rather than commercial passenger jets. Passengers: 40,000 people in 1998. Traffic movements: 2,500 commercial movements with as much as five times that figure in light aircraft used by private owners and trainers. Development plan: Ancillary air services, development of industrial park.

Sligo is located just 35 miles from Knock International Airport. Aer Lingus operates a twice-daily scheduled service to Dublin using 90 to 110-seat BAE 146 aircraft. Sligo, as the figures indicate, is heavily used by lighter aircraft and for training purposes. The operators speak of no immediate plans to extend the runway but have invested £250,000 in the past year in creating serviced sites for industry.

Enniskillen Airport

Capability: Lockheed Constellation landed for air show. Normally turbo-prop/small jets. Passengers: 4,300 in 1998. Traffic movements: 1,100. Development plan: Will launch a marketing drive to northern Europe this year.

Enniskillen caters for flying enthusiasts and has two seasonal scheduled flights operating during the summer months. The first is a BA 8300, 50-seat to Jersey and the second is a Saab 2000 which flies to Zurich, also capable of carrying 50 passengers. Owned by the local council, Enniskillen does not plan to develop beyond the traffic demand.

Donegal Regional Airport

Capability: Commuter-type craft up to 100-seat BAE 146, although some payload restrictions may apply. Passengers: 15,116 in 1998. Traffic movements: N/A. One scheduled flight per day. Development plan: Currently putting in place a medium-term development strategy. Estimated cost and £3 million between now and 2003.

Donegal Regional Airport It is operated under the subvented Essential Air Services Programme. Operators hope for a resurrection of a service to Scotland. Negotiations also with a Swedish aircraft painting company to locate there.

City of Derry Airport

Capability: Medium-sized commercial jet aircraft up to Boeing 757s and Airbus 319s. Passengers: 70,000 in 1998. 200,000 people forecast for 1999. Traffic movements: 18,000 in 1998. Development plan: Just completed major expansion of technical facilities to expand services.

Derry City Airport caters for daily flights to Manchester and Glasgow, from this summer, to London. Derry is also in the charter business with Falcon Holidays flying to Mallorca once a week, while Jersey European fly to Blackpool and the Isle of Man.

Belfast International

Capability: All major transatlantic and world-wide jet aircraft. Passengers: 2.6 million people in 1998. Traffic movements: 96,448 in 1998. Development plan: Conducting a £100 million investment in surrounding airport business parks.

The terminal buildings are currently undergoing a £9.45 million development programme and "major investment" is being made in route development. Belfast International is linked to TBI, the world's third-largest airport operator.

Belfast City Airport

Capability: Commuter aircraft. Small commercial jets and turbo prop planes. Passengers: 1.3 million people in 1998. Traffic movements: 34,500 in 1998. Development plan: £21 m in terminal buildings. £9 million in technical support.

British Regional, Gill Air, and Jersey European operate scheduled services to 18 destinations throughout these islands, mainly covering British regional cities and feeding into gateway airports such as Gatwick. A new very successful route is Belfast/Cork once a day operated by Jersey European.

Belfast City Airport is currently developing a £21 million passenger facility and is described as a "busy, business airport".

Dublin Airport

Capability: All major trans-Atlantic and world-wide jet aircraft. Passengers: 11.6 million in 1998. Traffic Movements: 162,086. Development Plan: A total of £47 million was invested in new facilities last year.

Dublin is Ireland's busiest airport. The Dublin-London route has now passed London-Paris to claim the title of Europe's busiest route, with four million passengers last year. Dublin is now the seventh fastest-growing airport in the world, according to Aer Rianta. Congestion is a problem.