THE MINISTER for Transport has described as “regrettable but inevitable” the decision by Aer Arann to suspend flights to and from Galway Airport.
The airport’s future has been thrown into doubt by the move. Its owner, Galway Chamber of Commerce, has accused the Government of “undermining confidence” by its decision to withdraw operational funding.
However, Leo Varadkar’s spokesman pointed out last night that both operational and capital funding was extended by the Government last June to all six regional airports to the end of the year, reversing a decision to withdraw those funds from both Galway and Sligo from June.
Aer Arann Regional has 35 flight deck and cabin crew based in Galway. All will be offered the opportunity to move to other Aer Arann bases in Shannon, Cork, Dublin and Waterford, the company says. A “small number of redundancies may arise should some crew members not be in a position to relocate”.
Aer Arann withdrew its Galway-Dublin route earlier this year when public service obligation subsidies were cancelled.
Flights between Galway and London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Waterford will stop for the winter from November 1st. Aer Arann at present is the sole scheduled flight operator from Galway Airport.
“It is a huge blow for staff and their families and it is also a huge blow for Galway and Galway businesses,” airport managing director Joe Walsh has said.
Mr Varadkar said it was “regrettable” but “inevitable due to the commercial reality”. He added that the decision came “despite the best efforts of the airport and airline management and staff”.
Even with current State funding for the airport, Mr Varadkar said he understood Aer Arann’s bookings from Galway had been declining, while advance bookings on the Galway routes had been well below overall market performance.
The airport employs 52 people, with indirect employment of up to 175.
Aer Arann chief executive Paul Schutz said: “The reality is that we are not yet a year out of examinership and we are not in a position to continue to operate routes that are not commercially viable.”
Galway Airport recorded traffic of almost 90,000 passengers a year on flights to and from London-Luton, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and to Malaga in Spain at its height in the last decade. In the 1990s, it survived on just two Aer Lingus flights a week.
The opening of the new M6 motorway, cutting travel times to and from Dublin and Dublin airport, has affected both air and rail travel to the west.
Multinationals in Galway have argued that the air link is vital for the information technology and medical device clusters in Galway, and the value of both Galway and Sligo airports in providing links to international hubs was outlined in a recent Western Development Commission analysis.
Aer Arann says booked passengers on all routes after October 31st will be offered a full refund, but passengers on the Manchester and Edinburgh routes will have a rebooking option, instead of a refund.