Kerry Airport

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Kerry Airport
Aerphort Chiarraí
IATA: KIR – ICAO: EIKY
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Kerry Airport Plc
Serves Farranfore
Location Killarney/Tralee
Elevation AMSL 112 ft / 34 m
Coordinates 52°10′51″N 009°31′26″W / 52.18083, -9.52389
Website www.kerryairport.ie
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,000 6,562 Asphalt
07/25
disused
1,230 6,562 Asphalt
Irish AIP at EUROCONTROL[1]
Irish Aeroports & Aerodromes
Irish Aeroports & Aerodromes

Kerry Airport (IATA: KIRICAO: EIKY), or Aerphort Chiarraí in Irish, often called Farranfore Airport, is an airport in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland. It is 15 minutes from Killarney and the Ring of Kerry, and 20 minutes from Tralee. It is just over one hour from both Cork and Limerick cities using the newly constructed bypass roads. It is the only airport in the Republic of Ireland to be within walking distance of a train station, with Iarnród Éireann's Farranfore station half a kilometre away. A new airport bus terminal opened in January 2006 which has hourly bus service to Cork, Limerick, Tralee and Killarney. Over two million passengers have traveled through Kerry Airport since its first scheduled flight in 1989. Aer Arann and Ryanair are the scheduled airlines operating from the airport.

The first aircraft to land at Kerry was flown by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport and Power (now the Department of Transport and the Marine on 25 August 1969. The first scheduled flight from Kerry Airport was on 22 May 1989 to Dublin by Aer Lingus, followed the next day by Ryanair to London Luton. The first large passenger jet to use the new facility was a Boeing 757. The first transatlantic charter flight was operated by American Trans Air (now ATA Airlines from New York City).

Ryanair introduced its Kerry to Frankfurt-Hahn service on 1 April 2003. The airport is a public limited company (PLC) but not quoted on any stock exchange. It had a profit of 385,000 in 2004 on a turnover of €6.4 million. The main shareholders in Kerry Airport are the Kerry Group, bin Mahfouz family, Kerry County Council, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and Denis Kelleher.

Ryanair introduced its Kerry to London Luton service on 6 November 2007

Kerry Airport employs 49 people and is reported to offer some of the lowest costs to airlines in Europe. In 2006 there were 185,000 passengers.

A yet to be announced Ryanair base is planned at Kerry for July 2008, though planned routes are unknown. This is quite a surprise as it is only around two months from now (16 May 08). Confirmation for this base was received through the internal staff system.

Contents

[edit] Airlines and destinations

  • Aer Arann (Dublin [ends 21 July], Lorient [seasonal], Manchester)
  • Ryanair (Dublin [begins 22 July], Frankfurt-Hahn, London-Luton, London-Stansted)

[edit] Government support

The Irish Government subvents regional services under a Public Service Obligation programme. A tender is offered for airlines to provide a minimum level of service in return for subsidy and a monopoly of the route. The tender is published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Aer Arann were re-awarded the PSO for the 2005 offer programme but in 2008 it was awarded to Ryanair.[2]

On 21 February 2007, the Irish Government announced that Kerry Airport would receive almost €17.7 million in capital grant money.

[edit] Ground transportation

A Shuttle Bus operates in conjunction with the Ryanair Frankfurt service to Farranfore and Killarney with transfers to Tralee and Dingle.

Kerry Airport has a new bus terminal, opened in January 2006, which has scheduled bus service throughout Ireland.

The airport is 500 metres (530 yards) from Farranfore village via a lit footpath which has an Iarnród Éireann railway station.

Car hire and taxi services are available.

[edit] Airport data

Kerry Airport has a new runway 2,000 m x 45 m which was opened in May 1994. It developed from a runway of 1,090 m x 23 m in 1969 to a runway of 1239 m x 30 m in 1989.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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