Aer Arran managing director Mr Padraig O Ceidigh says considerable scope exists for the development of the Dublin-Derry air service. O Ceidigh. Although the load factor on the route is currently only about 30 per cent, he says Derry is the fourth-biggest city in Ireland and the airport serves a hinterland of 280,000 people.
Addressing a seminar in Letterkenny on air access to Donegal, he said the Derry route tied in with the company's plans to build a network of internal passenger routes.
The route is one of five subject to a Public Service Obligation contract that is effectively an EU-approved Government subsidy to link regional airports with their capital city. A special case was made for the Derry service, which is particularly important for serving north Donegal. The next round of PSO contracts begins on January 18th, 2001, and Aer Arran will tender for services on routes linking Dublin with Sligo, Carrickfin (west Donegal), Galway and Kerry as well as Derry.
Business and tourism interests in Donegal are campaigning for improved air access to the region as it attempts to overcome its geographical and infrastructural disadvantages.
"Air access is absolutely essential for regional and industrial development," the regional director of the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation, Mr Brendan McGinty, said. "It's not just about getting investment in, but also making sure that what we have we hold."