Expansion
On 13 March 2007 a €27.5 million upgrade of Waterford Airport was announced. Over the next two years the money will be spent on extending the runway to 7,300ft in length, building a new passenger terminal capable of handling one million passengers a year and introducing scheduled flights to European cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Prague and Rome. There will also be charter flights to Mediterranean holiday resorts. The expansion will mean that air travellers in the southeast of Ireland will soon have a "credible alternative" to Dublin and Cork airports, according to officials at Waterford Airport. According to the chief executive of Waterford Airport, Graham Doyle, the extended runway was to be in place by summer 2009 and capable of handling large jet aircraft, including the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737".
On 9 March 2010 Transport Minister, Noel Dempsey announced there would be no funding for the runway extension at the airport due to difficulties with the public finances and that security and safety were a priority which are going ahead.
The fully upgraded and remodelled connecting regional road, R708, from Waterford city to the airport was completed in early July 2008, reducing the journey time from Waterford city centre to the airport to 10 minutes at off peak times and from the outer ring road, R470, to the airport to 5 minutes.
On 5 December 2011 the airport will start the first phase of upgrading the runway with a complete resurface and grooving of the existing runway surface.
Read more about this topic: Waterford Airport
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