News

 

First Amsterdam flight takes off at Waterford Airport

 

Photography: Browne’s Photography

 

With the peak holiday season upon us, the first Waterford to Amsterdam flight left Waterford on Friday, May 2, to much excitement. The new route will offer a four times weekly service to and from Amsterdam – Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
And with Summer in the air, May also sees Aer Arann launch a further five destinations including Faro twice weekly, Malaga twice weekly, Bordeaux twice weekly, Lorient three times a week and Galway – all from Waterford Airport. The addition of these routes to the long established services to London, Manchester and Birmingham sees nine destinations served from Waterford Airport.


The launch of the Amsterdam route coincided with the Queen’s birthday celebrations in Amsterdam - so the celebrations will continue for the passengers on arrival.  Amsterdam is a wonderful city to visit for its range of cultural and historic attractions as well as exciting nightlife and shopping opportunities; or as a centre for exploring all that the Netherlands has to offer.


Speaking at the launch of the Amsterdam service, Waterford Airport CEO Graham Doyle said: "This service further enhances the range of destinations available from Waterford Airport and the connections from the South East to continental Europe and beyond.  Amsterdam is a great point-to-point destination but it also opens up some wonderful opportunities for onward travel to the rest of the world.  Already we have lots of passengers using UK airports such as Manchester to connect to destinations like the USA.  I would encourage people thinking of long haul travel to consider the wealth of connections through Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s largest hubs. For onward destinations in Europe, there are also excellent rail links from Amsterdam."
He added: "The routes to the Netherlands, France, Spain and Portugal also give access from Europe to our shores here in the sunny South East; as a result, it will add enormous vitality to the regional tourist industry. There are opportunities for niche holiday packages to be marketed for the whole of the South East.


 "At the airport, we’re really looking forward to the additional passenger activity with Amsterdam and the other European destinations.  It will bring an exciting new dimension to our services and further add to the convenience we offer people throughout the South East. "


Commenting on the official launch Minister Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Social and Family Affairs said: "Waterford Regional Airport is one of the success stories of the transport sector in Ireland in recent years. Drawing on the immense reserves of local dedication, the Airport has seen its passenger traffic grow by 51% in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the same period last year. The addition of this new service to Amsterdam is a very positive development which will substantially boost further expansion. The route will generate inward tourism in to our region while at the same time opening up a major new exciting travel destination for the people of the South East."


Garry Cullen, Managing Director, Aer Arann said, " Aer Arann are proud to be opening up such important routes to Europe from Waterford and we see this new route to Amsterdam and further routes to Malaga and Faro commencing later this month, as Aer Arann’s firm commitment to the development of the region and its airport. Our expansion into the European market positions the airline as one of the fastest growing in Europe. We are particularly delighted that our first flights from Amsterdam are three quarters full, which is unprecedented for a brand new route. Aer Arann is showing that we can bring in new untapped tourism markets to the South East region."


The new summer destinations are all on sale at    

www.aerarann.com and for further information on Waterford airport log on to www.flywaterford.com .

 

May 2008