It all began with a letter to the Connacht Tribune in late 1969 from Colie Hernon, cox of the Inishmore lifeboat at Kilronan, of the need for an air service from the Aran Islands to the mainland. The idea had occurred to him a few years previously, but valuable time lost in medical emergencies hastened his resolve to establish the airlink.
Prior to this, a little background work had been carried out. A photographic
charter over the islands was carried out shortly after Christmas 1967 using
Citabria EI-ANT of Shannon Flying Services flying from Coonagh, Co.
Limerick. The following August, Piper Tri-Pacer EI-AMS, also of Shannon
Flying Services, did an aerial tour charter flight over the islands, and on
April 1st 1969, Hayden K. Lawford carried out an aerial survey of the
islands to locate potential sites for proposed airstrips. Tri-Pacer EI-AMS
was used also for this flight.
Despite this, it was the letter to the Connacht Tribune that was to provide
the catalyst for action. A group of local businessmen playing golf the next
day discussed it and United Development Galway was established. Ralph Langan
was made chairman, with Jim Coen, Jim Codd, Dermot Gray, Mick Holland, John
Langan and Colie Hernon comprising the rest of the board. Their primary aim
was to construct an airstrip on Inishmore and to promote the service.
Shannon Flying Service were initially to fly the route, but due to the death
of a major shareholder, they ceased operations. United Development decided,
then, to take on this responsibility also and ordered a nine-seat
Britten-Norman Islander. Meanwhile, a site at Killeaney on Inishmore was
chosen as the site for the airstrip and a grant for it's construction was
applied for and approved by the Department of the Gaeltacht.
Work commenced on Killeaney in January 1970, the construction being carried out by Dermot Gray of Drumshambo. A 2000 foot grass runway was marked with a cross runway of 1500 feet, at a total cost of £20,000. Hayden Lawford made the first landing at the new field in April 1970 using Citabria EI-ANT.
With the decision to operate the service themselves, Aer Árann was born and Islander EI-AUL was delivered in June. It operated the first service between the old military strip at Oranmore and Inishmore on the 8th of August. The service was officially launched on the 15th by Mr. Michael Kitt TD, Minister for the Gaeltacht. The night of the 15th, a storm blew, and the Islander, parked perilously close to the water's edge on Inishmore, began to waver in the gales, a consequence of the high wing structure. Nine of the heaviest men, busily downing the black stuff were coaxed and cajoled into leaving their local hostelry to act as ballast for the Islander, proof, if any was ever required, of the hospitality of the Galway people.
The following January, operations were moved to Shannon due to a combination
of Oranmore airstrip being waterlogged and a dispute with Galway Airways. A
new airstrip was opened at Kiltulla in June 1971, and Aer Árann availed of
this for their Galway services. The aircraft were returned to Shannon each
night.
In 1973, a new Islander was ordered to replace EI-AUL, this being sold to Intra Airways of Jersey. EI-AWM was delivered in April and immediately put into service. Islander EI-AUF, which had been on lease whilst awaiting delivery of the Islander was returned to Ireland West Airways. Also in April, Aer Árann were appointed Irish agents for Britten-Norman. On the 26th of July, Whiskey Mike was demonstrated to the Air Corps at Baldonnel in a bid to sell the Defender, the military variant of the Islander. Ultimately, the contract went to the Beech 200 Super King Air.
Meanwhile, work was being carried out on an airstrip on Inishmaan, and this
was completed in November. Aer Árann then commenced services to here.
However, due to the state of the airstrip at Kiltulla, operations were again
transferred to Shannon. A more permanent base was required and this was to
materialise in the form of Carnmore. Mr. Ernest Steiner, a former Luftwaffe
pilot and local factory owner, decided to finance a new airstrip and hangar.
Aer Árann based themselves at the new facility and commenced flights from
Carnmore in March 1974. The following month, the fleet was increased to two
with the delivery of another Islander, EI-AYN. In July, both aircraft were
chartered by Senator Edward Kennedy to bring him and his family to the
islands.
1975 was to prove to be a dramatic year. After losing about £11,000 in 1974, Gaeltarra Eireann and American multi-millionaire John Mulcahy of the Mulcahy group both invested in Aer Árann and were allocated seats on the board. A third Islander was acquired in June, EI-BBA being immediately pressed into service. During the summer, about 5,000 passengers were carried at fare of £7.50 return or £6 for islanders.
The fleet was brought back to three when, in April 1976, Islander EI-BBR was
delivered. There was to be controversy, however, when it was decided to
curtail the service to Inishmaan to thrice weekly, citing low loads, rising
fuel prices and increase in VAT and duty as making the service uneconomical.
There was to be a new and very unique service initiated, though, when in
July, Shorts Sandringham VP-LVE landed at Foynes. Using Aer Árann's licence,
Charles Blair, former USAF pilot and husband of actress Maureen O'Hara based
the 42-seater flying-boat, the Southern Cross, at Killaloe for the summer
and carried tourists to the south and west coasts. At a fare of £15,
passengers were treated to the novelty of two bars on board.
Further expansion took place in September when a fourth Islander, EI-BCE, was delivered. Trouble brewed in October unfortunately, when an unofficial strike by two members of the maintenance staff led to the grounding of the fleet. Following settlement of the strike, it was time for Aer Árann to seek out expansion. The airstrip on the smallest of the Aran Islands, Inisheer, was operational the following spring and services commenced from Galway. Plans were also put in place to serve the new strip at Waterville, Co. Kerry but these never came to fruition, except on an ad hoc basis. The Shorts Sandringham returned for the summer of 1977, being based again at Killaloe. Flown again by Captain Blair, the delivery flight routed St. Croix via Long Island and Gander. Joining Captain Blair on the flight were his wife and the famous transatlantic aviator Captain Jack Kelly-Rogers. A typical flight in the Southern Cross would be over Lough Derg, onto the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands before stopping for lunch at Ashford Castle and then returning to Killaloe. Allied to all this expansion was a deal with Aer Lingus to act as their agent in the UK and Europe.
With the opening of the airstrip at Carrickfinn, Co. Donegal in 1978 and the near-completion of one at Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Aer Árann were able to offer a most unique service; aircraft could be chartered to fly to thirty-one airfields in Ireland, as well as points in the UK and on the continent.
The turn of the decade was to prove to be very traumatic. Economically, Aer Árann was taking a plunge. After recording healthy profits in the previous two years, 1980 was proving to be a financial disaster. Following the rejection of a plea for government subsidy, Aer Árann threatened to pull the service to the islands. Operations were profitable during the summer season, but losses during the off-tourist months sapped resources. Aer Lingus conducted a study of the operation but concluded that it would be too costly to operate. Salvation came in the form of a Roscommon-born ‚migr‚. Tim Kilroe, owner of Manchester-based Air Kilroe, purchased outright the shareholdings of the Mulcahy group and the Galway consortium in December 1981. Udaras na Gaeltachta retained the one-third shareholding originally allocated to Gaeltarra Eireann.
A new management structure was put in place. Former Aer Lingus executive, Bill Kavanagh was appointed general manager. The new owners began to look beyond the core service and on the 2nd of June 1982, a new service was commenced between Carnmore and Dublin. Using Islanders, flights were operated three days a week, with two return services on these days.
Following a down-scaling of cross-channel by Aer Lingus and some British airlines such as Air UK and British Midland, Aer Árann saw a gap in the market for a commuter-style operation. Despite objections from the national airline, Aer Árann were allocated licences to conduct services between Shannon, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester and Cork and between Cork, Bristol and Cardiff. Gerry Connolly's Avair was also granted routes to the UK. On the 24th of October 1983, a new twice daily service between Dublin and Shannon was inaugurated; the EH201/2 departing at 08:00 and the EH207/8 departing at 17:00. Using an eighteen-seater Embraer Bandeirante, G-BHJY, leased from Euroair Transport, the fare was £33 single for the fifty minute flight. The aircraft remained in basic JEA scheme, with the JEA logo on the tail, and Aer Árann titles. Aer Árann also examined re-opening the Dublin-Galway route should the runway at Carnmore be lengthened to accommodate the Bandeirante and introducing a Dublin-Farranfore service. These ultimately failed to materialise. Prior to the inauguration of the Dublin service, the traditional air hostess was given a metaphorical kick in the teeth, when an advertisement in the Tuam News sought hostesses that were under 5'2".
The Dublin-Shannon venture was to be shortlived. In February 1984, Avair went into receivership, and by the end of March, Aer Árann pulled out of the Dublin-Shannon route and abandoned the flights that were due to connect Shannon and Belfast four-times weekly and Shannon and Manchester thrice weekly. Criticism was levelled at the Department of Communications from both airlines, believing that there was a bias towards Aer Lingus.
Following the withdrawal from Shannon, Aer Árann made one more attempt at a service from Dublin; this time to Derry-Eglinton. On the 1st. of October 1985, Piper Navajo EI-BRC operated the RE022/023 morning and RE024/025 evening service Monday to Friday. The flight took forty-five minutes. However, on the 1st. of April 1986, EI-BRC was grounded for a month due to a technical problem and the service was operated by Islander. It returned to service on the 2nd. of May but were replaced by Shannon Executive Aviation on the route five days later, using Ce.411A EI-BCT. The last Aer Árann service was operated by Islander EI-AYN on the 9th of May.
Following the termination of these services, Aer Árann reverted to concentrating on the Aran Islands services from Carnmore and on general charter work. The fleet consisted of two Islanders, EI-AYN and EI-BCE until 1988 when Piper Aztec EI-BXP was added. A 1973 model, Xray Papa was pushed into service primarily to cater for an Ordnance Survey contract to photograph the eastern half of the country. Westair won the contract for the western half. The Aztec was modified to accommodate the four-foot camera. Based in Weston for the contract, piloting was undertaken by Mr. Pat Moran. However, on assessment of the profitability of the contract, Aer Árann realised that it was uneconomical and requested an increase. This was refused and they conceded the contract.
1991 was another dramatic year for Aer Árann. Following wranglings with the company running Carnmore, Aer Árann decided to move its base to a new airfield at Minna, near Inverin, ten miles west of Galway city. £700,000 would be spent building a 2000' asphalt runway, terminal and hangar. The effect was to reduce the flying time to the islands to seven or eight minutes. However, the ongoing recession in Britain was to have a knock-on effect. The downturn in the UK was affecting Kilroe's hotel and aviation investments in England and he wanted to sell his shares in Aer Árann to concentrate his resources on these. October 5th was set for the deadline for a new investor or the airline would shutdown. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Communications, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn met a delegation on the 23rd of September to discuss the future of the airline, but nothing was forthcoming. Following week long negotiations between Kilroe and Udaras na Gaeltachta, a deal was hammered out. Kilroe would maintain his investment in the airline and Udaras would pay £350,000 towards the building of the new airfield. Fares would also be increased.
After being pulled from the brink, normality returned to Aer Árann. All the aircraft were re-registered to Galway Aviation Services Ltd in December 1993, but trading continued as Aer Árann. In April 1994, Kilroe agreed the sale of his two-third share to two local men, Padraig O'Ceidigh, a solicitor from Spiddal and Eugene O'Kelly, a consultant anaesthetist. With a new vibrancy now present in the airline, management is continuing to seek out new opportunities. The maintenance end of the airline has been constantly developed. Aer Árann currently hold licences JAR-145 and IRL-023 for maintaining light aircraft and were the first airline to achieve ISO9002. They have also been granted the Cessna franchise for Ireland. On the airline operation front, Aer Árann are looking at the possibility of serving Clare Island, Inishboffin and possibly Inishturk from Inverin and Tory Island from Carrickfinn. This they see as a continuation of the niche they have developed. Currently sites are being reviewed for strips at these locations and there is also an inter-departmental report on access to the islands with Minister Donal Carey on government funding of such ventures. Fleet replacement is another item to be tackled in the near future, with types being preliminarily assessed at present.
Twenty-five years on and the future is looking bright for Europe's most western airline. Aer Árann has been through both the peaks and troughs but has always emerged stronger from each experience, the sign of a true survivor. With the west seeing a tourist boom, and interest in Irish heritage at a high, things are certainly looking rosy for this small but very unique airline. Aer Árann has earned its place in Irish aviation history. It continues also to provide a most important link in the economic and social fabric of the region. I look forward to completing instalment number two on their history in the year 2020.
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