Posted online: Jan 17th, 2010

The number of passengers going through Donegal Airport in 2009 declined by over 20%.

A total of 50,500 passengers used the airport in Carrickfinn – down from what was a record high of 65,537 in 2008.

The economic downturn clearly impacted on passenger numbers and the out-look for this year is challenging.

According to Pauline Sweeney, Marketing Manager at Donegal Airport, the drop in scheduled traffic was actually just under 10%, and one of the main reasons for the fall in numbers was the fall-off in flights servicing the off-shore oil exploration industry.

The airport in Carrickfinn has been used over the years as a base to bring in crew from oil and gas exploration rigs prospecting off the north-west coast.

In 2009, there were only two months during which crews were serviced by fixed-aircraft and helicopters from Carrickfinn whereas in the previous year there were eight months of operations.

Currently there are two daily return flights from Carrickfinn to Dublin and a three times weekly service to Glasgow. Both are operated by Aer Arran. Additional flights are put on during the summer months.

There is also a seasonal charter service from the Dutch city of Rotterdam to Carrickfinn operated by VLM.

She pointed out that passenger numbers on this route had held up well and it will be running again this year, from May until September.

Most of the passengers were on package deals that saw them staying in west Donegal. The influx of tourists was a significant aid to the local economy. In order to attract business, Aer Arran has been actively marketing its Donegal services, running a range of promotions including hotel and car-hire deals. It has also been advertising the fact that fares from Donegal to Cork via Dublin using Aer Arran start at €46 one-way.

The airport has endured a checkered history. Originally developed as a grass strip – and partly to service businesses on the Gweedore Industrial Estate – the throughput of passengers was just 2,784 in 1985.

Over the years a variety of airlines operated services with mixed success. Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Loganair, Malinair, Brightair, and Ireland Airways were among the carriers. However, the introduction of the Public Service Obligation contract – which subsidises provincial air services – was a huge boost to regional airports like Carrickfinn.