Kerry Airport

Kerry Airport Irish: Aerfort Chiarraí
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Code	IATA: KIR, ICAO: EIKY
County	County Kerry
	International
Operator	Kerry Airport plc
Location	Q95830428 52°10’51"N, 9°31’26"W
Runway(s)	6,562 feet (Asphalt)
Website	www.kerryairport.ie

Kerry Airport, often called Farranfore Airport, is an international airport in Farranfore, County Kerry. It is 7 nautical miles north off the Ring of Kerry and 8 nautical miles south-east of the county town, Tralee. Passenger services are operated by Ryanair and more recently French airline Chalair. In 2022, Kerry Airport handled 355,043 passengers.

History

Kerry Airport was incorporated as a public limited company in July 1968, with its main objective of building and managing an airport at Farranfore. Various share capital fundraising programmes were undertaken and, together with great assistance from taxpayers' money over the years, the airport has developed from a runway of 3,576 feet x 75 feet commissioned in 1969, to a runway of 4,065 feet x 98 feet commissioned in 1989, and a new runway of 6,562 feet x 148 feet opened in May 1994.

The first aircraft to land at Kerry Airport, on 25 August 1969, was piloted by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport and Power. For a number of years the only aircraft using the aerodrome were light private aircraft and the occasional charter or cargo flight; extensive parachuting also took place. The first scheduled service was inaugurated in July 1979, using an Islander aircraft operated by Aer Arann.

Encouraged by the apparent success of other regional airports in Ireland, the board of directors drew up a development plan to lengthen and widen the runway to 1,200m x 30m and to extend and upgrade the terminal buildings and to install an Instrument Landing System and appropriate lighting.

On 5 August 1983, an Air France Concorde flew by Kerry Airport during visits to Dublin and Shannon Airport.

The runway was completed on schedule; the first scheduled flight into Kerry was on 22 May 1989 from Dublin by Aer Lingus, followed the next day by Ryanair from Luton. The contract for the new runway of 6,562 feet x 148 feet and the new terminal was signed in May 1993.

The Runway 08/26 was licensed by the Irish Aviation Authority on 20 May 1994, and the first flight landed at 13:23 local time on 20 May. It was a Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft registration G-BLSD from Manchester, piloted by C. Gurley. This was followed by the first commercial flight by Aer Lingus, a Saab 340. Its registration was EI-CFD and it was commanded by Captain Peter Heinz.

It was announced in February 2012 that, owing to the codeshare agreement with Aer Lingus, the currently operated Dublin service with Aer Arann would be operated from 30 October 2012 under the brand Aer Lingus Regional. Aer Arann was later rebranded as Stobart Air. Passenger numbers on the Dublin route operated by Aer Lingus Regional, increased by 13.5% in 2014.

In February 2017, Ryanair announced they would commence a twice-weekly service to Berlin–Schönefeld from 2 November 2017.

In January 2020, Ryanair announced they would commence a twice weekly flight to Manchester from 29 March 2020, every Thursday and Sunday.

Ground transport

Farranfore Airport has no direct access by rail, although Iarnród Éireann's Farranfore railway station is located a mile to the south, offering direct services to Tralee and Killarney. As of May 2023, no shuttle bus operates between the airport and the train station.

Kerry Airport is located on the N23 road, approximately 58 miles from Limerick and 66 miles from Cork.

An airport bus terminal opened in January 2006.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Kerry Airport)

• Kerry Airport