Ireland West Airport Knock has reacted with dismay to the announcement of the planned decision by Bus Éireann to cut the existing shuttle bus service which operates between Charlestown, County Mayo, and Ireland West Airport Knock. The shuttle bus service serving Ireland West Airport Knock has been added to a list of routes to be axed as Bus Éireann confirmed it is forging ahead with a controversial cost saving plan hitting 99 routes nationwide.
Reacting to the Bus Éireann decision airport chairman Liam Scollan said that: “This latest decision was simply making a bad situation worse. The shuttle service up and down to Charlestown was never satisfactory and was meant as a stop gap measure. What is really needed is for the existing Bus Éireann services travelling between Donegal and Galway and Longford and Westport to make stops at the airport. We are heading for the longest wait for a bus in history, because these inter urban services were meant to connect with the airport in 2005 and nothing has happened since.”
Bus Éireann agreed to commence a range of services between IWAK and towns in the region as far back as June 2005. In March 2007, after a number of years of actively pursuing the Department of Transport to install new services to the airport, it was announced that new services would commence in April 2007, however the services never started.
Commenting on this news, Liam Scollan, chairman, IWAK said that with the proposed cancellation of the shuttle service passengers who get connecting buses to Charlestown would be stranded and would have to pay a taxi to bring them to the airport or even have to walk the five mile journey to the airport. This has an even bigger impact on people coming here from abroad who are appalled by the absence of public transport. “This despite the fact that the airport invested in building a dedicated bus shelter and coach parking area and altered the main access gate as proposed by Bus Éireann representatives to accommodate the promised services.”
The proposed axing of the shuttle service essentially cuts off the last remaining public transport link to the airport said Mr Scollan.
