What is Kerry Airport at Farranfore in Ireland like?

Ireland has quite a lot of airports and one of them is at Farranfore in County Kerry. Kerry Airport is a small facility, which is fairly close to both Tralee and Killarney.

It has the distinction of being the only airport in the Republic of Ireland with a railway station close by. Since only locals would really use the facility, here’s a look at what it is like.

Kerry Airport

Those used to large capital city airports will be in for a surprise as Kerry Airport is rather compact. As soon as you walk in, immediately in front of you is an information desk.

When I arrived, there were three passengers waiting inside and another five outside. The flight information display showed four flights, three with Ryanair and one Aer Lingus. The Ryanair flights were to and from London Stansted, Dublin and London Luton, while Aer Lingus was to and from Alicante.

Waiting Around

Since I had arrived two hours before the flight, I passed the time checking out the terminal. This consisted of looking at the two vending machines (both empty) and the photographs on the wall.

The toilets, I discovered, had very nice basins and looked quite modern. Thrones were a little high off the ground for someone short like me, but hey, I managed! There was also a sign in front of a door announcing the “Pilots Lounge”, but it remains a mystery to me.

The Bar and Cafe

I asked the lady manning the podium at the entrance door if she knew when the cafe would open. She said it would be about 12:30 or so, which would make it tight to get food before boarding. Another passenger, clearly irritated, emphatically spoke to her shortly after so she went into the cafe and returned to say it would open “in about 10 minutes”. That was just before 12 midday and by that time, many people were waiting for the Dublin flight.

The roller door opened and we all piled in. I ordered some food and it was quickly delivered. My meal including a Coke cost €12.50 which was reasonable, and it was quite filling. Once done, I left and noticed security was open for the flight. Before I passed through, the roller door shut and the cafe was closed again. With the next flight not due to leave for about four hours, that’s how they roll.

Overall Thoughts

Interestingly for such a small facility, they have a brand new security scanner negating the requirement to remove your liquids and so on from your bag. The lady at the podium I had seen earlier ended up being the person doing the scanning and she asked if I had a nice lunch.

There are very friendly staff at Kerry Airport, and there sure seem to be a lot of them knocking around. Anyway, it’s a perfectly pleasant place, though I wouldn’t arrive early for your flight if you don’t have to, especially with everything being closed until just before flight time.

Have you been to Kerry Airport before? What do you think of it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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