Английская Википедия:Donegal Airport

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use Hiberno-English Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox airport

Donegal Airport (Шаблон:Lang-ga) Шаблон:Airport codes is a regional airport in Ireland, serving County Donegal and the north-west. It is located on the coast, Шаблон:Convert[1] south-west of Bunbeg in Carrickfinn, a townland in The Rosses, a district in north-west County Donegal. It is about a 15-minute drive from Dungloe and Gweedore and 45 minutes from Letterkenny. It was generally known until the 1990s, and is still popularly known within County Donegal, as Carrickfinn Airport, from which its airport code (CFN) is derived.

History

Early operations

The airfield was officially opened in March 1978,[2] to serve the nearby IDA industrial estate with an expectation of service to Dublin Airport via Derry City Airport. Until the mid-1980s, the runway was a Шаблон:Convert grass strip. This was replaced by a hard surface runway with temporary terminal buildings. The airport started passenger operations on Christmas Eve 1985,[3] with flights to Glasgow International Airport and latterly Manchester Airport operated by Malinair until its bankruptcy in 1987. The developments to enable this were completed with funds and assistance from the Government of Ireland, private investors, Donegal County Council, the International Fund for Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund. The Malinair service to Glasgow was briefly replaced by Air Ecosse in June 1987[4] before being reinstated by Loganair in 1988.

In 1989 the runway was extended to Шаблон:Convert,[5] with a further extension to Шаблон:Convert, installation of runway safety areas and a new terminal building with modern navigational aids and equipment occurring in 1992-3

The 1990s

Ryanair added service to London Luton Airport (via Sligo Airport) in June 1990,[6] however this service was suspended in January 1991 due to fuel costs and security concerns relating to the Gulf War and did not resume.[7] In 1994, the airport played a crucial role in the relief of Tory Island during lengthy storms that prevented the shipment of food or fuel to the island by sea, with Irish Air Corps helicopters using the airport for uplift of fuel, goods and passengers.[8] Macair, a Scottish airline leasing aircraft from Sun-Air of Scandinavia, briefly launched service to Edinburgh Airport and Birmingham Airport in 1995[9] but went bust shortly afterwards[10]

Gill Airways provided service to Glasgow Prestwick Airport in 1996,[11] and also 1999.[12] Also in 1996, the initial Public Service Obligation contract for services to Dublin Airport was awarded to Ireland Airways, who began operating this service.[13] There has been a continuous service to Dublin since.

Glasgow services by Loganair ceased in 1997 when it was under the ownership of British Regional Airlines, but were replaced by Bright Air.[14] Aer Arran replaced the failed Ireland Airways on the Dublin PSO in 1998.[15] The airport's runway lighting system was destroyed in a vandalism attack on 13 December 1999, p4,[16] with a repeat attack in March 2000.[17]

Up to the 1990s, the airport was generally referred to as Carrickfinn Airport/Airfield/Airstrip and very rarely as Donegal Airport, as there were plans to open a "Donegal Airport" in the vicinity of Letterkenny, with Donegal County Council preferring to reserve that name for the Letterkenny plans[18]

The 2000s

On 21 February 2007, the Irish Government announced that it would be giving €3.8 million to the airport in capital grant money. Domestic service to Dublin was resumed by Aer Arann.[19] Aer Arann operated flights to Cork via Dublin in 2009 until they reduced their Cork-Dublin service to six times per week. The route closed in March 2010.[20] In February 2010, Aer Arann closed its service to Glasgow Prestwick Airport and relocated to Glasgow Int’l Airport.[21]

Late 2000s and early 2010s, CityJet operated a Saturday seasonal charter flight to Rotterdam between April and September using a Fokker 50.[22]

2010s

Service to Dublin was operated from 2012 to 2015 by Loganair and Flybe using a Saab 340 which rotated via Glasgow to provide aircraft and crew replenishment. Stobart Air, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, received public service obligation funding from the Irish Government to subsidise the route to Dublin. A contract was awarded in 2014, and the service commenced on 1 March 2015, using an ATR 42-300 (reg nos. EI-CBK or EI-EHH). The service was operated using an ATR 42-600 (reg nos. EI-GEV) from 2018 until the demise of Stobart Air, in June 2021.

The airport was voted the world's most scenic landing spot in 2018, 2019, and 2020.[23][24]

2020s

In July 2021, Amapola Flyg a Swedish regional airline, was awarded the PSO route from Dublin to Donegal, as a temporary measure following the demise of Stobart Air.[25] The contract was awarded for 7 months from July 2021 until February 2022.[25] In March 2022, Emerald Airlines (on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional) began flights to Dublin operated by an ATR72-600 twice daily.

In July 2023, Loganair relaunched their route to Glasgow International Airport with an ATR42, three times weekly up until 24 September 2023. Due to strong passenger demand on the route, an increased 2024 schedule will operate four times weekly, and run from April-October.[26]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Donegal: Шаблон:Airport-dest-list

Statistics

Шаблон:Airport-Statistics

Passenger numbers
Year Passenger numbers % Change YoY
2008 65,539
2009 50,761 Шаблон:Decrease22.5%
2010 46,825 Шаблон:Decrease7.8%
2011 38,309 Шаблон:Decrease18.1%
2012 29,226 Шаблон:Decrease23.7%
2013 33,768 Шаблон:Increase15.5%
2014 35,415 Шаблон:Increase4.9%
2015 36,552 Шаблон:Increase3.2%
2016 44,156 Шаблон:Increase20.8%
2017 46,514 Шаблон:Increase5.3%
2018 46,537 Шаблон:Increase0.05%
2019 48,542 Шаблон:Increase4.3%
2020 18,067 Шаблон:Decrease62.8%
2021 14,603 Шаблон:Decrease19.1%
2022 36,934 Шаблон:Increase152.9%
Source: Central Statistics Office[27]

Airport data

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:Commons category-inline

Шаблон:Portalbar Шаблон:Airports of Ireland

Шаблон:Authority control

  1. Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок AIP не указан текст
  2. Шаблон:Cite web
  3. Irish Press, 25 December 1985, p3
  4. Donegal Democrat, July 3rd 1987, p1
  5. Donegal News, November 11th 1989, p1
  6. Irish Examiner, June 30th 1990, p3
  7. Donegal Democrat, January 18 1991, p1
  8. Belfast Telegraph, March 9th 1994, p41
  9. Donegal News, March 4th 1995, p26
  10. Шаблон:Cite web
  11. Donegal News, July 5th 1996, p1
  12. Donegal News, April 2nd 1999, p15
  13. Donegal Democrat, August 22nd 1996, p3
  14. Donegal News, December 5, 1997, p5
  15. Donegal Democrat, March 5th 1998, p23
  16. Irish Independent, 14 December 1999, p4
  17. Donegal News, March 24 2000, p20
  18. Donegal News, 2 December 1989, p24
  19. Шаблон:Cite webШаблон:Dead link
  20. Шаблон:Cite web
  21. Шаблон:Cite web
  22. Шаблон:Cite web
  23. Шаблон:Cite web
  24. Шаблон:Cite web
  25. 25,0 25,1 Шаблон:Cite news
  26. Шаблон:Cite web
  27. Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок CSO не указан текст