Galway Races Helicopters

Galway Races - Helicopter Landing Rights

Do you want to apply for landing rights for your helicopter at Galway Races 2009?

Extract from 'The Irish Times' 20/5/2009

'One of the litmus tests for Irish helicopter use will come later this summer at the annual Galway Races. In recent years helicopter travel to and from the racecourse necessitated the building of a dedicated control tower, with the event more in tune with a scene from Black Hawk Down than an annual race meet. Over 2,000 landings took place during the course of the festival in 2008, compared to 120 in 1991.

At last month’s Punchestown Festival, helicopter landings dropped from 1,200 last year to less than 300 this year. It is estimated that the numbers of landings on the Friday of the festival in 2008 was the same as the total number for the whole week this year.

Organisers at the Galway Festival are currently writing to companies asking if they intend re-applying for landing rights at this year’s festival. Racecourse manager John Moloney says it’s too early to tell what level of chopper traffic this year’s festival will attract, but his "gut feeling is that there will be less this year than last year".' Down to Earth with a Bump