Galway Airport
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Galway Airport Aerphort na Gaillimhe |
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Galway County Council | ||||||||||
| Operator | Carnmore Aviation Ltd | ||||||||||
| Serves | Galway | ||||||||||
| Location | Carnmore | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 81 ft / 25 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°18′01″N 008°56′28″W / 53.30028°N 8.94111°WCoordinates: 53°18′01″N 008°56′28″W / 53.30028°N 8.94111°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www.galwayairport.com | ||||||||||
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Source: Irish AIS
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Galway Airport (Irish: Aerphort na Gaillimhe) is located at Carnmore, 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) east of Galway City, County Galway, Ireland and is managed by Corrib Airport Limited. It has not serviced any scheduled passenger traffic since 31 October 2011, when Aer Arann ceased commercial operations at the airport. At 1289 m (4230 ft), the runway is too short to handle most jet airliners and so scheduled services were restricted to turboprop aircraft or small executive jets. In November 2013 it was announced that the airport's aviation licence would cease, closing the airport. In January 2015 it was announced that the airport would reopen for private and commercial flights, but as of December 2015 the airport was "closed for commercial traffic until further notice".
In 1918 a landing ground was built for the Royal Flying Corps at nearby Oranmore. It was later used by Aer Arann, a local flying club and private operators. However it remained a grass strip and was virtually unusable in Winter. Ernest Steiner, a German businessman built his own strip opposite his factory at Carnmore. Aer Arann moved in also and commenced operations from there in 1974.
The runway was extended to 1200 metres and completed on 2 March 1987. Although it could accommodate larger aircraft it remained unsuitable for jet airliners and was entirely served by regional turboprop aircraft such as the ATR-42. The first jet arrived at the airport on 30 March from Ohio USA. It was a 12-seater Gulf-Stream II and many more small business jets used the airport. A terminal and runway lighting project was completed by June of that year.
In January 1988 Aer Lingus re-introduced the Dublin route, in March Ryanair launched a new route to London Luton and later re-routed it to Stansted. The two airlines went into a business war, Ryanair offering cheap flights direct to London and Aer Lingus to Heathrow, Amsterdam and Paris on selected days via Dublin. In 1991 due to business restructuring Ryanair withdrew their London service and Aer Lingus were soon to follow.
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