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City of Derry Airport
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City of Derry Airport is an airport located east northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland, situated in County Londonderry. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle and is a short distance from the village of Eglinton, 13 kilometres (8 miles) east north-east of the city centre.
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Encyclopedia
City of Derry Airport is an airport located east northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland, situated in County Londonderry. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle and is a short distance from the village of Eglinton, 13 kilometres (8 miles) east north-east of the city centre. Passenger numbers in 2008 were almost 439,000, a 2.7% increase on 2007, but did not rise as projected following numerous flight cuts as the credit crunch affected aviation.
Eglinton Aerodrome, as it is known locally, has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P620) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Derry City Council).
History
The airport has its origins in World War II. In 1941 RAF Eglinton air base was established as home to No. 133 Squadron RAF which flew Hurricane fighters in defence of the city. In 1942 the base was occupied by No. 41 Squadron RAF. In 1943 the airfield became a Fleet Air Arm base called HMS Gannet and was home to No. 1847 Fleet Air Arm Squadron which provided convoy air cover as part of the Second Battle of the Atlantic.
After the war the base remained a military establishment until the 1950s when the Ministry of Defence returned much of the land to the original landowners. The original name of the airport was Londonderry Eglinton Airport and was usually just referred to as Eglinton. Some limited commercial activities were undertaken at the airfield during the 1960s when Emerald Airways operated a Glasgow service. During most of the 1970s the only flying at Eglinton was carried out by Eglinton Flying Club which is still based at the airport. In 1978 Londonderry City Council decided to purchase the airfield with a view to improving the transport infrastructure for the North-West of Ireland. The airport has slowly developed since then with private short-haul charters to various destinations within the British Isles, a service which still continues including the recent addition of helicopter charter services. Loganair introduced the first scheduled flight between Derry and Glasgow in 1979, a route which was recently dropped due to rising fuel costs. This route was the only route for ten years until Loganair introduced an additional daily Manchester service in 1989.
A major redevelopment programme was undertaken by the Council from 1989 to 1993 with grant aid from the European Regional Development Fund. £10.5 million was spent upgrading all of the facilities at the airport including runways, taxiways, access roads, navigation equipment and runway lighting, as well as a new purpose-built terminal and fire station. The new terminal was officially opened in March 1994. The name of the airport was officially changed from Londonderry Eglinton to the City of Derry Airport by Derry City Council following Nationalist support within the newly renamed council. At that time there were still only two scheduled routes carrying about 40,000 passenger each year. 1995 saw the arrival of Jersey European Airways who attempted to operate a short-lived shuttle link between Derry and Belfast City Airport.
During 1998 and 1999 safety improvements were undertaken at the airport. As the airport serves much of the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland, funding came from the Irish government, as well as the British government and Derry City Council. These improvements meant that larger aircraft could use the airport and Falcon Holidays started holiday charter flights in May 1999 and Ryanair followed with scheduled flights in July 1999. This Ryanair service to London Stansted grew substantially and the Loganair routes continued to operate until October 2008 as a British Airways franchise, including a sector to Dublin, initiated as a public service obligation route, subsidised by the Irish Government. Soaring fuel costs have now seen all British Airways operations to Northern Ireland suspended indefinitely.
A previously successful route between Derry and Manchester was also axed by British Airways in 2005 as part of its rationalisation of regional services. Aer Arann operated services to Manchester and Birmingham for a short time.
In May 2006, the European Commission gave its approval for the British and Irish governments to invest €15 million in the airport. Although this work did not include for the lengthening of the single serviceable runway, it included the expansion of the safety zones at each end which would allow jets to land and take off with full passenger capacities. Operators of Boeing 737 jets were previously limited to 80% capacity as a safety feature due to the short length of the runway. Other works included the expansion of the apron immediately in front of the control tower which would allow for the parking of several aircraft at any one time. As a prelude to the expansion at the airport several families were removed from their homes under a Government Compulsory Purchase scheme before the buildings and outbuildings were levelled.
At the end of 2008, British Airways, operated by Loganair as a franchise agreement, ceased the Glasgow International route which had operated for 30 years, following the loss in July 2008 of their public service obligation route to Dublin. This route is now operated by Aer Arann. Aer Lingus Commuter had operated the route before Loganair until 1994.
Also Ryanair discontinued the Bristol route and changed its Derry - East Midlands route to Derry - Birmingham but announced new flights to London Luton and announced the airport's first scheduled international service to Alicante commencing June 2009.
The Future
The recently completed runway extension and apron works have allowed Ryanair to lift their self-imposed passenger limit on their aircraft operating out of the airport. This will increase seat availability and passenger throughput at the airport.
It has also enabled Ryanair to establish their first continental route from the airport to Alicante and it is hoped that the success of this route will be followed by other announcements.
In January 2009 the council appointed Albert Harrison, the former head of Belfast International Airport, as the new manager of the airport. He has been tasked with turning the loss making facility around and has been given just six months to implement savings of £600,000 per annum and increase the number of carriers, destinations and passengers.
In the summer of 2009 work will begin on dualling the A2 from Maydown to Eglinton and the Airport, completing by 2011 a high speed dual carriageway connection to the city. This scheme is proposed to integrate with future motorway schemes from Derry to the Irish Republic border at Aughnacloy and from Dungiven thus increasing the catchment area where it is a viable alternative to the two Belfast Airports.
Plans have recently been announced in the Derry Journal that City of Derry Council, who own and operate the airport are tendering for a development plan which could see a Hotel, Aircraft Painting Hangers, Freight Buildings and Office Accommodation built in the next 10 years.
Incidents and accidents
- 29 March 2006 - the Irish airline Eirjet issued an apology after a flight it operated from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to City of Derry Airport on behalf of Ryanair landed at the wrong airfield, touching down at Ballykelly Airfield, a former RAF base and more recently an Army base some 10 kilometres (6 miles) away from its intended destination. The statement explained that the incident was caused by an "error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport". An air accident investigation report in January 2007 reported that the pilot had been unable to obtain the correct set of charts prior to the flight, only obtaining them the day after the incident. The pilot stated that if he had seen the charts, he would have been fully aware of the existence of Ballykelly and would not have landed there. The crew believed the instrument landing aid system at City of Derry was malfunctioning as what they saw of the runway did not match the instrument readings and the presence of an instrument calibrating aircraft close by added to their belief that there was a technical fault. The report also stated that although an air traffic controller thought the jet was "slightly low" he did not warn the crew about the other runway.
- 24 May 2007 - The airport was closed by Civil Aviation Authority following an inspection. Problems found include lack of an effective bird control plan, unsuitable temporary repairs to the area where planes park and poor runway drainage. Four days later, after reinspection, the CAA allowed the airport to be reopened. Changes made to the airport included placing nets over culverts and ponds near by, repairs to the aircraft parking apron and minor drainage work carried out on the runway. All cancelled airlines, including British Airways and Ryanair subsequently resumed full services.
Airlines and destinations
The following scheduled airlines use City of Derry Airport (as of January 2009):
There are also chartered routes to the following destinations:
Statistics
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! style="width:75px"| >| Number of Passengers | Number of Movements
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!1997
|56,043 | >-
!1998
|49,095 | >-
!1999
|103,504 | >-
!2000
|162,704 | >-
!2001
|187,519 | >-
!2002
|199,146 | >-
!2003
|205,505 | >-
!2004
|234,487 | >-
!2005
|199,357 | >-
!2006
|341,719 | >-
!2007
|427,586 | >-
!2008
|438,996 | >-
| colspan=5 align="right"| Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
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Passenger numbers for 2005 fell following a reduction in Ryanair services to London Stansted due to safety restrictions over the absence of a runway overshoot area . Services were then restored following the commencement of work on a runway extension. In 2006 new Ryanair services commenced to East Midlands, Liverpool and Glasgow-Prestwick, with Bristol commencing in November 2007. Passenger numbers for 2008 were 438,996, and are expected to increase again in 2009 despite the credit crunch with the announcement of new flights and removal of passenger number limits on existing flights now that the runway extension has been completed.
Passenger numbers for 2007 were:
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! style="width:250px"| Destination (2007) >| Passengers | Operator
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!London (Stansted), England
|155,488 | >-
!Liverpool, England
|81,699 | >-
!East Midlands, England
|68,504 | >-
!Glasgow (Prestwick), Scotland
|58,563 | >-
!Bristol, England
|44,875± | >-
!Dublin, Ireland
|26,462 | >-
!Glasgow (International), Scotland
|11,949 | >-
!Reus, Spain
|7,074 | >-
!Palma de Majorca, Spain
|6,316 | >-
!Arrecife, Spain
|3,739 | >-
!Lourdes, France
|1,656 | >-
!Lille, France
|360 | >-
!Cork, Ireland
|356 | >-
!Lisbon, Portugal
|290 | >-
!Split, Croatia
|278 | >-
| colspan=5 align="right"| Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
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| ± Figures for Bristol are extrapolated for 12 months from the 9 months that the service ran from November 2007
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