Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 6, 2026

Avair

Avair was an independent Irish airline that operated chartered business flights. It also operated a number of scheduled flights within Ireland, on routes such as Cork-Derry, Dublin-Sligo, Dublin-Waterford, Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Derry, availing of some government subsidies.

Last revised
Aug 6, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
243 w
Citations
4
Source
Avair
IATA ICAO Call sign
KZ
Founded1978
Commenced operations
13 January 1982
Ceased operations
February 1984
Operating bases
Cork Airport
Fleet sizeSee Aircraft operated below
Key people
  • Gerry Connolly (managing director)

Avair was an independent Irish airline that operated chartered business flights. It also operated a number of scheduled flights within Ireland, on routes such as Cork-Derry, Dublin-Sligo, Dublin-Waterford, Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Derry, availing of some government subsidies.

History

Gerry Connolly was the founder and managing director of Avair Ltd. He set up the company in 1978 with investment from Crest Holdings and operated a twice-weekly service between Cork and Derry.1

On 13 January 1982, Avair commenced a domestic commuter service between Cork Airport and Dublin.2 It also flew to Dublin twice weekly from Waterford Airport.3

The airline was granted a number of international routes between Dublin and Blackpool, Nottingham, East Midlands and Leeds Bradford in the UK.

The airline closed in February 1984 after failing to get further government subsidies. Iona National Airways took over some of the routes such as Dublin-Sligo, and many of the internal Irish routes are now operated by Aer Lingus Regional.

Fleet

References

References

  1. Irish Aviations Turbulent Past Sunday Tribune February 16, 2003
  2. http://www.corkairport.com/business/ Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Cork Airport History – Cork Airport website]
  3. Waterford Airport Celebrates 21s Anniversary Munster Express
  4. Irish Air Pics - Civil and Commercial Aircraft Archived February 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine