AER ARANN, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, has announced that it is to terminate its service at Waterford from the beginning of the New Year.
The decision will affect services from Waterford to London Southend, London Luton and Manchester from 6 January.
Passengers who have make bookings for after 6 January will be contacted in the coming days by the airline, which says it will re-book passengers on alternative Aer Lingus Regional flights or give them a full refund.
Aer Arann employees at the airport will all be redeployed within the company.
The airline will continue to offer services from Dublin Airport to London Southend, and to Manchester from Cork and Shannon airports.
Aer Arann called the move “regrettable but necessary”.
‘Another blow for Waterford’
However, Waterford Sinn Féin Senator David Cullinane has described the decision as “another blow for Waterford and the Southeast”.
“I am confident that the Waterford Airport Management and Board are doing all they can to find replacement routes. If these routes are not replaced there will be a serious impact on the economic development of the county and in the area of tourism,” he said.
Cullinane called on the Minister for Transport to provide “whatever assistance is necessary” in replacing the routes, saying it was important to the region’s economic development for Waterford Airport to be supported.
Last week it was revealed that Waterford Regional Hospital (WHR) faces a possible downgrade.
Proposals outlined last Thursday could see the hospital’s structure broken up and aligned with Cork University Hospital – a move which Fianna Fáil Waterford City Councillor Gary Wyse will “put lives in danger”.
WRH is one of eight specialist cancer centres in the country, and currently serves the city, county and wider Southeast region.
A protest march against the proposals will take place in Waterford city on Saturday 10 November (midday – 2pm), beginning at Ballybricken and ending in John Roberts’ Square.
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