Weston used to be a brilliant spot, and it was the GA hub for the whole country. Lots of great GA minds there in the new ownership structure. I am looking forward to seeing the progress. The infrastructure is pretty good already, they just need to welcome everyone back!
That’s good news. But I hope Ireland doesn’t have the same issues as the UK.
If aerodromes aren’t safeguarded properly, even an investor or his successor can eventually get bored of it all and run it into the ground and/or sell it on for other non-aviation purposes.
even an investor or his successor can eventually get bored of it
Actually, what is needed – everywhere – is a co-operative climate between airfield owners and airfield users.
Which is another way of saying the users need to stick their hands into their pockets a little more.
The standard UK pattern, which incidentally is repeated over much of Europe although people don’t like to admit it, is one where the users want to freewheel on the back of everybody else, moaning and whinging about landing fees being over £10, etc, and they then hit the forums and generate a few GB of bandwidth when the said airfield shuts, usually because the owner (or his widow) got sick of the whining and complaining users, who turn up in £50k cars while flying a shagged out spamcan which smells like a public phone box, but refuse to pay (say) £30 for a landing fee. We don’t have this complaining climate on EuroGA but it exists pretty well everywhere else. A bit of a caricature but you get the idea 
And it isn’t just the UK by any means; Brits have merely made being “tight” into an art form. It is a GA problem.
Obviously this co-operation is possible only where the airfield owner is not a complete bastard and in this case we should assume he/they won’t be.
Weston is a really nice airfield which I have visited lots of times. It is also a great base for “local” flying all over Ireland (which is not exactly big 
) and Scotland. It should be viable because it can take bizjets, and for the passengers it is way less hassle, as well as a lot cheaper, than Dublin.
Which is another way of saying the users need to stick their hands into their pockets a little more.
I think another core issue is that some pilots want the quality of infrastructure in the USA (free landings, comprehensive ATC, IFR, etc.), but not many want to get their hands dirty in political work to find the means of providing that funding (either by users or by taxation) and safeguarding (with the relevant laws).
Then there was a generation of pilots who sat back and let the UK government in the 70s-90s sell off infrastructure built with public money during the war years to private individuals or organisations without any preconditions attached – the most basic requirement being keeping an aerodrome open to the public and accessible to all within reason. You can see where this eventually goes.
Anyway, I have drifted from the topic of this thread. I wish Weston and other Irish aerodromes the best, and not to follow the path of the mistakes that have happened in the UK.
The other thing Weston needs are RNAV approaches! I understand this was under consideration back in 2018/19 and I offered to introduce the manager to the guys at Gloucestershire for advice. They need a weird curvy one for the westerly runway to keep aircraft away from the approaches at Dublin.
Lovely bunch of people there. We always use Weston for trips to the US. Fly to Weston and park my aircraft there. Quick taxi ride up to Dublin Airport. Fly commercial to the US from there with the advantage that you clear US immigration and customs before departure. Saves hours of crap at the other end.
Weston used to have an IAP, IIRC.
Yes, it was a VOR approach with quite high minima but the VOR has been taken out of service. RNAV is difficult because as Buckerfan says you’ve got Dublin in the way at one end and Baldonnel in the way at the other.
Indeed, Weston was downgraded to a VFR-only airport some time ago.
Flew into Weston last week for a 10 day stay. We use Weston for transiting to commercial flights to the US so we can take advantage of US Customs and Immigration being based in Ireland. Also, its cheaper (and more fun) to park my Jetprop at Weston that to park my car at Heathrow.
I hadn’t realised the IAPs had been removed until I tried to tune into the VOR. Luckily the cloud base was just high enough to fly the VFR approach from the west along the Liffey River (1700 ft), under the control of Dublin Approach.
The fantastic news is that the consortium which bought Weston includes several very successful tech and financial guys, all of whom are keen pilots . According to airport personnel they are accelerating plans to implement new IAPs (inc RNAV), lengthen the runway, install runway lighting etc. One of the new owners has a serious business jet for example and wants to be able to base it there.
