In the last few weeks, we have seen major cutbacks at the Western seaboard airports. This is due to the withdrawal of the subsidy for the flights to Dublin. Sligo and Galway are especially affected with the services likely to be withdrawn as they are no longer economic. The subsidy was worth hundreds of euro per passenger. Kerry is another airport affected and there have been job cutbacks there as well.
There was no Waterford-Dublin service as it did not cover the PSO criteria (distance from Dublin) which means that Waterford does not lose out in this regard. Waterford is confident, according to a statement from the airport, that the new funding system is workable for them. This is a vote of confidence.
We can recall back in the early Nineties when the Gulf War had happened that
