Airport remains at significant risk due to ongoing doubts over London route
The Derry News (and Derry Journal and Radio Foyle) has been reporting that the council are considering the future of the airport again, this time over the future of the PSO route to London.
Strangely the council are blaming Storming over their failure to pay the promised £7 million development package, £4.5 million of which was for the ill fated aircraft repair centre (although a plan for Belfast City Airport proceeds) and £2.5 million which was for route development.
The route development money was for new routes not for extending the London PSO which was a Treasury project not a Stormont project (
that's why it ever happened in the past place) so I don't understand how the council are linking the two.
If Stormont had made the money available as planned it would have been spent by now anyway and we'd hopefully have a couple of extra routes. So yes, the Stormont failure has had a negative impact but not on the London route.
What was Council's original plan for the route after the initial PSO had completed?
My question is, how much has the London PSO actually cost? I know £2.5 million was set aside but this is only called upon if the route is not viable. The route seems well supported so what has been the cost and how much if any is needed going forward. Presumably something since the Council are complaining about it.
And would BMI Regional not continue the route in the absence of a PSO since it is now established?
BHD and BFS don't require PSOs, Ryanair didn't require one for 18 years at LDY.
And as for talk of closing the airport, Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Knock and Donegal have airports so why shouldn't Derry?
If the airport doesn't work it is because the economy is not working. To fix the airport you need to fix the economy. That is what the City Deal is about. If you are closing the airport then you are admitting that the City Deal hasn't worked.
"It's the economy stupid" and closing the airport isn't going to improve anything.