Waterford Airport has welcomed the official opening of the Waterford City Bypass (the catflap as it has come known ), which makes the regional airport more easily accessible than ever from counties Kilkenny, Tipperary, Carlow, and Wexford.
During peak times the new bypass, which includes the second river crossing, will trim up to 30 minutes off journey times to Waterford Airport as passengers will no longer need to access Rice Bridge or travel through Waterford city centre coming from Kilkenny.
Opened by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen, the bypass ties in with the existing N25 to the east of Slieverue, Co Kilkenny, crosses the River Suir at Grannagh, and links to the Waterford outer ring road and the new airport road.
The southern section of the new Waterford-Dublin motorway which links the new bridge to Knocktopher just outside Kilkenny is due to open prior to Christmas and this will further improve journey times to the region's airport.
“At the airport we're absolutely thrilled with the new bridge and bypass,” said Waterford Airport CEO Graham Doyle. “Over the past few years, more and more passengers from the southeast have been discovering the ease and convenience of using their airport. This new bypass will transform the transport experience to the airport for the people of Kilkenny.
“It is the major step towards making the airport fully accessible to everyone in the southeast and, along with the further road delivery later this year, really pulls the region together in terms of transport infrastructure.
“We have long been saying that the airport is here for the entire region,” Mr Doyle added. “We now intend to take this very real opportunity to play our part for the southeast. We continue to experience significant repeat business once passengers have used the airport and believe they will continue to routinely check flywaterford.com and save time, money, and eliminate the hassle often associated with air travel. It’s easy to get here and we will do all we can to offer an easy-going airport experience.”
