THE single daily scheduled flight from London Stansted swoops in over the big dairy farms of south Waterford to land at the regional airport at 1.25 p.m. It turns around and is gone on its return journey 30 minutes later.
In an age of big jets and supermarket-style price wars between the major airlines, smaller local airports are fighting to retain sufficient traffic to remain viable. Waterford Regional Airport is among those feeling the pinch as the low-fares policy causes airlines to concentrate on large cities and major leisure and trunk routes.
"We have a very well-equipped small airport, albeit underused," admits the airport manager, Mr Peter Tawse.
Yet this airport, like the other regional ones, is a key facility for the region, serving the multiple functions of training, rescue and leisure flying. And its very presence is often the clinching factor in a decision by a multinational to locate industry nearby.
Opened in 1981 with just the basic facilities of a 1,200-metre runway and a portable building as a terminal building, the airport has come a long way.
It served as a springboard for the early operations of Ryanair, formed in 1985, and four years later, under pressure for a major upgrade of facilities, the airport became a plc. Its 1,200 new shareholders, including Waterford Corporation and Waterford County Council, injected £1.6 million into the project.
A £2.9 million development plan received 50 per cent European Regional Fund support and the modern terminal was built.
However, Ryanair withdrew from all regional airports in August 1992, transferring to the high-volume passenger market between major cities.
Although Waterford was left for seven months with no scheduled services, its marketing programme brought in Manx Airlines, which restarted the Stansted-Waterford route with a 29-seat Jetstream 41 aircraft.
The airport now handles 20,000 passengers a year. However, it requires an estimated 35,000 to break even, a target that could be achieved if efforts to establish a daily service to and from Manchester are successful.
Meanwhile, Waterford is developing a niche market with its flight activities. Two flying schools and a flying club are based there, as well as an aircraft maintenance operation and a private school which trains cabin crew and aviation staff.
"Ultimately, the long-term future depends on the airline industry itself seeing a slight increase in margins. At the moment they're a bit too tight," says Mr Tawse.
The airport enjoys enthusiastic back-up from the regional commercial and industrial sector. "A small local airport needs local support. Without it nothing will work and we are lucky we have tremendous support," says Mr Tawse.
Regulations have tightened immeasurably in flying and Waterford's airport staff have had to be very flexible.
All the staff, for example, are trained in the operation of the three fire engines and many of them double up on baggage-handling, security and rescue.
"Some of our firemen also do check-ins," says Mr Tawse. "They certainly can write an airline ticket. And one has just completed an air traffic control course.
Businessmen in the region would like to see an early-morning service to London and other cities but the traffic needed for an operator to provide this is unlikely to be there.
"I think the bread-and-butter for the airport will be midday flights which are basically leisure-based," admits Mr Tawse.
An urgent project is now to resurface the 16-year-old runway and extend it by 300 ft to comply with the requirements of the latest executive jets.
Next month the airport's open day will see an air display in which the Air Corps, celebrating its 70th anniversary, will take part. There will be aerobatics and some pleasure flights as the public enjoys a more relaxed view of a business that has developed into a mass-marketing, high-pressure industry often associated with delays, frustration and stress.