Ní Mhurchú asks Michael O’Leary to meet with management of Waterford Airport to explore using Waterford airport as a hub
Published on: 07 May 2024
Ní Mhurchú accuses her government colleagues in the Green Party of ignoring Waterford airport on ideological grounds.
Ireland South MEP candidate Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has said the South East needs its regional airport reopened and has called on her Green Party colleagues in Government to stop standing in the way of an operational Waterford airport. She has written to Michael O’Leary of Ryanair urging the airline boss to sit down with management of Waterford airport. According to Ní Mhurchú, small and regional airports like Waterford take the pressure off the larger hub airports like Dublin.
“A functioning airport in Waterford would drive tourism and foreign direct investment into the South East and increase general connectivity. Waterford airport should be a pillar of the EU´s growth and Jobs Strategy. The EU Commission has approved the Government’s regional airports’ programme which has seen recent funding announcements for airports like Kerry and Donegal but nothing for Waterford as of yet. I am concerned that Waterford airport is being ignored on ideological grounds”
“Some will make the argument that Waterford airport is loss making. To them, I say that 44% of Europe's Airports are loss making whilst 75% of airports with less than 1 million passengers per year are loss making. We must not allow them to wither as they are significant pieces of infrastructure that create jobs, increase connectivity and drive investment”
Ní Mhurchú raised the fact that in the US the airport industry benefits from more than $3 billion of direct public funding every year. In addition, security costs are publicly financed. She described the potential economic benefits of an airport in Waterford to the South East,
"For every 10,000 passengers that are brought through an airport, it has been shown to create 12 full time local jobs and numerous other indirect jobs. It is time to step up and fight for the reopening of Waterford airport. If people and goods are travelling by road to fly from Dublin anyways, it makes little sense allowing the grass to grow on Waterford airport whilst we await a decision from a Green Party leader who is ideologically opposed to the idea of an airport in the South East”
Ní Mhurchú also recently raised the fact that Waterford Airport could be the location for our National Aerospace Academy. Waterford airport has potential to become a University Airport on the basis of a draft report carried out by the engineering department of the South East Technological University which showed Waterford Airport has more than suitable air space and technologies for flight testing unmanned air vehicles, and has a suitable runway for the take off and landing of small aircraft and unmanned air vehicles. Connecting a University with an airport of this size is similar to approaches taken in Europe, for example, Hans Christen Andersen Airport and the Danish flight test facility for UAS.
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