Flights from Donegal and Sligo to Dublin could be operating again by early next month following the confirmation that six carriers have expressed an interest in operating services under the Public Services Obligation contract.
Ireland's most peripheral airport, Carrickfin in north-west Donegal, has been without any scheduled flights since January 21st, when EuroCeltic Airways Ltd, which also operated a Dublin-Sligo service, had its licence suspended. The firm had been experiencing operational difficulties and could not sustain its services.
Apart from occasional use by private light aircraft, Carrickfin at the moment is essentially an airport without aircraft. Ten part-time workers have been temporarily laid-off, while 15 full-time workers are being encouraged to take leave. Sligo Airport is now also limited to private charter flights but a package has been put in place to retain staff.
However, there are good grounds for optimism that flights will soon be back. Passenger figures on the Donegal-Dublin service in 2002 reached a record of 23,977. By contrast, in 2001, the total carried on the route was just 14,774. In Sligo, meanwhile, passenger numbers surged by 18 per cent last year to over 29,000.
The reason for the huge growth was the introduction last year of early morning and late evening return flights on the routes, which proved particularly popular with the business community as it was possible to do a day's business in Dublin and return the same night.
"We were getting more and more passengers. Not only was it important for business people but we were also getting passengers with hospital appointments in Dublin on programmes with the North West Cancer Group. We also got a lot of people who were getting connecting flights in Dublin," a spokesperson at Donegal Airport explained.
The fact that six carriers have expressed an interest in the route - Danish firms NewAir, Sun Air and Simber Air, Dutch company V.L.M., Scottish carrier Loganair, and Aer Arrann (a previous operator of this route) - indicates a belief that further passenger growth is achievable.
"I would be extremely disappointed if we do not have a service back up and running in early March," commented Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, who lives near the airport.
The subsidy, or "compensation" as the Department calls it in relation to the Dublin-Donegal route, works out at around €175 per passenger carried, significantly higher than the subsidy on the Dublin-Kerry and Dublin-Galway routes of just over €50 per passenger. The figure for Sligo is around €90 per passenger.
But the airport authorities are quick to highlight Carrickfin's special case. Donegal has no rail link with Dublin and the journey by road can be five hours or more. Bus Éireann doesn't operate past Letterkenny either.
The hope now is not only will the twice-daily return service resume, but that the carrier selected will not go the way of so many others before it. A regular, dependable service with suitable aircraft is essential to build public support.