City of Derry - How is the Airport Recovering?

Following the loss of Ryanair in early 2021 and the travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19, City of Derry Airport looked to be suffering. It had lost its two busiest routes (Edinburgh and Liverpool), with charter flights to Palma de Mallorca cancelled for the summer due to uncertainties in travel restrictions. This left the airport with just one airline (Loganair) and two routes - Glasgow and London Stansted for 2021. However, the airport has turned its fortunes around and have recently announced a series of new routes and increased frequencies, with Loganair today announcing a new City of Derry to Edinburgh route from May 2022.

In March, Loganair announced a third route to Liverpool, with four weekly flights, increasing to seven weekly in late June and were further increased to nine weekly flights in peak summer. Whilst this was less seats than offered under Ryanair, it did involve more flights and were more attractive to those wanting to be flexible with their travel.

Additionally, during peak summer and due to the loss of the Ryanair Edinburgh - City of Derry route, Loganair increased the frequency of its Glasgow - City of Derry, offering daily flights. This allowed greater connectivity between Scotland and Northern Ireland whilst allowing onward connections from Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands.

It is in August 2021 when City of Derry found further growth.

Travel Solutions, Northern Ireland's leading tour operator, announced plans to operate one weekly flight between City of Derry and Faro and one weekly flight between City of Derry and Palma de Mallorca between 29 June 2021 and 30 August 2021. These are two of the most popular leisure destinations within Northern Ireland and allow the airport to offer a regular connection to in-demand destinations.

On 26 August 2021, Loganair then announced its Summer 2022 schedule including increasing the frequency of flights during the peak summer between City of Derry and London Stansted from 15 to 17 weekly flights and increasing the seats on the City of Derry to Liverpool route, operating with 23 extra seats per flight. The increase in seats allows more passengers to reach City of Derry and boost travel links from England.

On 14 October 2021, Ryanair announced a resumption in domestic flying, adding a new route to Manchester with three weekly flights operating on the Boeing 737 aircraft. Ryanair become the second scheduled carrier at City of Derry and provides links to one of England's major economic hubs.

And now, Loganair have added another route - City of Derry to Edinburgh, to launch in May 2022, operating up to five weekly flights and brings back the connection of the previous Ryanair route. This route connects City of Derry to the two largest cities in Scotland, providing a boost to connectivity and business links between the region. This follows yesterday's announcement of APD being halved for domestic flights from April 2023 - which will be of great benefit many regional airports including City of Derry.

During Peak Summer, City of Derry will serve 7 destinations - Edinburgh, Faro, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Stansted, Manchester and Palma de Mallorca, helping to connect the region to major cities and leisure destinations across the British Isles and Europe and allowing City of Derry to regain its spark as a local travel hub and allows local businesses and residents to connect to the UK and beyond without having to travel to Belfast or Dublin. The airport will benefit from the cut in APD from April 2023 and the loosening of restrictions for travel. All these factors could allow City of Derry to recover its passenger numbers to pre-COVID levels quicker than other airports.

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(1) - Travel Solutions launches two 2022 summer routes from Derry - The Irish News