Donegal Airport
Donegal Airport Aerfort Dhún na nGall | |||||||||||
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AMSL 30 ft / 9 m | | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 55°02′39″N 008°20′28″W / 55.04417°N 8.34111°W | ||||||||||
Website | www.donegalairport.ie | ||||||||||
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Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2017) | |||||||||||
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Donegal Airport (Irish: Aerfort Dhún na nGall) (IATA: CFN, ICAO: EIDL) is a regional airport in Ireland, serving County Donegal and the north-west. It is located on the coast, 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi)[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,
In 1989 the runway was extended to 1,450 m (4,760 ft),[6] with a further extension to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), installation of runway safety areas and a new terminal building with modern navigational aids and equipment occurring in 1992-3
The 1990s
Glasgow services by Loganair ceased in 1997 when it was under the ownership of
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[19]
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
Late 2000s and early 2010s, CityJet operated a Saturday seasonal charter flight to Rotterdam between April and September using a Fokker 50.[23]
2010s
Service to Dublin was operated from 2012 to 2015 by
The airport was voted the world's most scenic landing spot in 2018, 2019, and 2020.[24][25]
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.[26] The contract was awarded for 7 months from July 2021 until February 2022.[26] 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,
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Donegal:
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Aer Lingus | Dublin |
Loganair | Glasgow[29] [30] |
Statistics
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Year | Passenger numbers | % Change YoY |
---|---|---|
2008 | 65,539 | |
2009 | 50,761 | 22.5% |
2010 | 46,825 | 7.8% |
2011 | 38,309 | 18.1% |
2012 | 29,226 | 23.7% |
2013 | 33,768 | 15.5% |
2014 | 35,415 | 4.9% |
2015 | 36,552 | 3.2% |
2016 | 44,156 | 20.8% |
2017 | 46,514 | 5.3% |
2018 | 46,537 | 0.05% |
2019 | 48,542 | 4.3% |
2020 | 18,067 | 62.8% |
2021 | 14,603 | 19.1% |
2022 | 36,934 | 152.9% |
Source: Central Statistics Office[2] |
Airport data
- Traffic permitted: Instrument flight rules/Visual flight rules
- Strength Pavement Classification Number(PCN): 21/F/B/X/T
- Tower Frequency: 129.80 MHz
- Navigational Aids: LocalizerLLZ 110.3 MHz "IFN"
References
- ^ a b EIDL – DONEGAL (PDF). AIP and charts from the Irish Aviation Authority.
- ^ a b "Aviation Statistics 2016". Central Statistics Office. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ "Carrickfinn Airstrip Donegal". RTÉ.ie.
- ^ Irish Press, 25 December 1985, p3
- ^ Donegal Democrat, July 3rd 1987, p1
- ^ Donegal News, November 11th 1989, p1
- ^ Irish Examiner, June 30th 1990, p3
- ^ Donegal Democrat, January 18 1991, p1
- ^ Belfast Telegraph, March 9th 1994, p41
- ^ Donegal News, March 4th 1995, p26
- ^ "Airline crashes weeks after new flights take off". 26 July 1995.
- ^ Donegal News, July 5th 1996, p1
- ^ Donegal News, April 2nd 1999, p15
- ^ Donegal Democrat, August 22nd 1996, p3
- ^ Donegal News, December 5, 1997, p5
- ^ Donegal Democrat, March 5th 1998, p23
- ^ Irish Independent, 14 December 1999, p4
- ^ Donegal News, March 24 2000, p20
- ^ Donegal News, 2 December 1989, p24
- ^ "Editorial: Dempsey announces PSO contracts for regional air routes". www.breakingnews.ie. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Editorial: Aer Arann wings in new routes across Ireland". Irish Examiner. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ "AER ARANN ANNOUNCE NEW ROUTE TO GLASGOW". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ^ "Press Release: New 2008 Chartered Air Service from the Netherlands to Donegal Announced". Fáilte Ireland. 13 May 2008. Archived from the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ "Donegal Airport named as the world's most beautiful landing spot". donegalnow.com. Donegal Now. 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
Donegal Airport has been named the world's most beautiful landing spot by global travel fans
- ^ "Donegal Airport voted most scenic in the world for second year running". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 22 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ a b O'Halloran, Barry (15 July 2021). "Swedish airline will fly Dublin-Donegal route". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "Loganair announces summer 2024 schedule to Donegal".
- ^ "Loganair year round Donegal to Glasgow".
- ^ https://www.derryjournal.com/lifestyle/travel/loganair-donegal-to-glasgow-flight-to-take-off-this-summer-4050099
- ^ https://www.instagram.com/p/C4N8PuAChkn/?igsh=MTMzMWhxNG9panVw
External links
Media related to Donegal Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Current weather for EIDL at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for CFN at Aviation Safety Network