New Derry to Dublin flight delayed
The long awaited new Derry to Dublin flight has been delayed and won’t take off for a number of months, it has been confirmed.
A request for tenders has not yet been issued, the Dublin Government has indicated.
This means the new air link will not get off the ground in October as had initially been hoped.
A spokesperson from the Department of Transport said: “The Department anticipates being in a position to publish a Request for Tenders (RfT) document very shortly, with a view to a contract being awarded this year and services commencing on the route as soon as operationally feasible by the successful operator.”
A spokesperson for City of Derry Airport (CoDA) said it welcomes the Irish Government’s continued commitment to the Derry to Dublin air service route and is working in close collaboration with the Department to move it forward as soon as possible.
In late April Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien told the Dáil it was expected that, ‘following a two-month tender procedure, a contract will be awarded for the commencement of the service this October’.
The ‘Journal’ asked both DoT and CoDA if the delay meant they were now looking at the contract being awarded in December and commencement of the flight in 2027. They declined to provide details on timelines.
During the summer Mr. O’Brien described CoDA as a ‘critically important’ air hub in Ireland.
Last year the Irish Government allocated €2m from its Shared Island Fund to allow the new Dublin-Derry PSO air service to start in 2026.
Also last year, ‘A Pathfinder for Irish Aviation’, an important new report on the air sector that was commissioned by the influential Irelandia group, called for the resurrection of the Derry to Dublin flight.
Its co-author Joe Gill, a Director of Corporate Advisory with Goodbody Capital Markets, said: “I think it is going to be really important in providing connectivity between the North West and Dublin.”
Announcing funding for the route through the Shared Island Fund last November the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Minister for Transport would ‘introduce a new PSO air service between Dublin and Derry in 2026, delivering on the Programme for Government commitment to establish air connectivity between the two cities’.
“The Dublin-Derry PSO air service will enhance connectivity for the North West of the island pending progress on an upgrade to the A5 road transport corridor by the Executive to which the Government has made a €600 million funding commitment.
“A PSO air service will be introduced for a defined period resourced through the Shared Island Fund, to commence in 2026 and be reviewed after two years. Full costs for the service will be determined and published once the procurement process for it has concluded,” they stated.
A service between the two cities was previously funded by Dublin up until 2011.