On Friday at an event in Waterford City Hall, Comer Group International and the Bolster Group announced a commitment of €12 million towards the extension of the runway at Waterford Airport. This commitment is expected to be matched by Government funding, with local authorities in Waterford, Kilkenny, and Wexford also set to provide a further €2 million. The total cost of the project is expected to be in the region of €30 million.
The project would see the existing 1,433 metre-long runway extended by 491m at its northern end and 363m at its southern end, bringing its total length to 2,287m, and widening to 45m from the existing 30m. This would permit the airport to serve mid-range jet aircraft including the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath attended the announcement in Waterford on Friday and said: “An extension to the runway would make the southeast an increasingly attractive destination for both leisure and business travellers from overseas. Similarly, it will make it easier for people across the region to travel internationally. This has the potential to boost economic growth in the region in the decade ahead and complement significant investment already planned for Waterford including in urban regeneration and the southeast Technological University”
No scheduled passenger flights have operated from the airport since 2016. It’s expected that if matched funding can be secured, the extended runway could be operational by the end of 2024. It’s rumoured a flight to London could be one of the first routes to restart passenger services.
Addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications last year, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said: “Since I’m on the record on the matter, I have been asked by the new investor(s) in Waterford will we fly to Waterford; I said we will if they have a jet runway and a low cost base. We will certainly return to Waterford; we will certainly put a service from London back into Waterford but I genuinely fear…that the viability of Waterford Airport will be very, very challenging. And I do not want to see, with the greatest will in the world, another set of PSOs (Public Service Obligations) for another set of domestic flights from Waterford to Dublin or something else that will only survive for as long as the taxpayer keeps egregiously subsidising it.”
