Media Archive

2003 was yet another record year at Galway Airport. Scheduled passenger numbers through Galway Airport in 2003 grew by 27% while overall traffic grew by 30.3%.

Actual scheduled passenger numbers grew by 32,920 over 2002 while 4,209 charter passengers transited the airport. The increase is far in excess of international aviation trends, with Dublin Airport recording 5% growth, Cork 17% and Shannon 2%. Growth at Knock was 25% for the same period. Galway at 30.3% is the fastest growing airport in Ireland and follows growth of 22% the previous year.

The year was the first full year of operation on the London route since Ryanair withdrew from the airport in 1992. The service, which was established in September 2002 operated at a 73.8% load factor carrying just short of 25,000 passengers. In June of 2003 Aer Arann launched a daily service to Manchester. Again this has proven to be a very successful route with a load factor of 71.3% carrying over 13,000 passengers. Over 80% of the traffic on the two routes is leisure based.

100,000 passengers travelled between Dublin and Galway, which is slightly down on the previous year. This was not unexpected, especially with the addition of new routes. It is however expected to grow again in 2004. Business traffic accounted for over 65% of passengers on this route.

In December a new route to Edinburgh was announced. Forward bookings are very encouraging. Passenger traffic at the Airport is forecasted to grow by 32% in 2004. Galway Airport is committed to providing additional frequency on the London and Manchester routes and is actively pursuing airlines to operate to Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds/Bradford, Paris and Brussels. It is hoped that at least one of these objectives can be realised during the coming year.

In June of last year Galway Airport were awarded the Q Mark by Excellence Ireland, and in September it was announced that the airport was the best new company adjudicated by the Quality System. A state of the art fire station and two new tenders became operational at the airfield in 2003, making it the most modern aviation fire facility in the country.

Diversions due to weather at Galway during the year were less than 1%. It is however planned to install an Instrument Landing System during the coming year. This should be operational before the summer and will dramatically reduce diversions as a result of low cloud and inclement weather.

For further information contact:
Peter O’Mara 086) 2308899,(081) 755569

Jarlath Feeney086) 2308899,(081) 755569