Cuthere
Think your missing the irony a bit, mind you if they were to add all the monies that the airport has consumed over the years it probably would make a good start on the road.

Was the Alicante route from Derry axed so it could be restarted from Aldergrove?

It has just been announced at BFS by Ryanair together with Berlin, Milan, Malaga, Krakow, Tenerife and Lanzarote.

I really can't see how the council can continue supporting the airport with this latest announcement from FR. In all the years the airport has been subsidised by ratepayers we have seen little growth.

Now FR has taken the 2-week per year Alicante flight and moved it the Belfast which already has Aerlingus, Jet2 and Easyjet flying to this destination. And I bet that flight will run for more than 2 weeks.

So what has the council been doing all these years?

...............and will FAO be available for summer 17??

If it isn't GAZMO, I'm sure you'll "notice".

As Paul Gosling said on Radio Foyle earlier this afternoon, Ryanair is not the best choice for the airport.

Also, as another caller on the show said it is the Donegal customers who are keeping the domestic routes going, the load factor on the Stansted flight is good. The airport is not really City of Derry but more of a Derry-Donegal airport.

Donegal customers will not want to travel to Belfast to fly to London or Glasgow. Why they even consider Knock is beyond me, they might as well travel to Dublin.

Indeed the Derry-GLA route actually was mentioned the other day on Ryanair winter 2016 Glasgow press announcement.

They go to knock for a few very obvious reasons such as convenience , the handiness of getting in and out of it and cheapflight prices relative to Dublin and the price of car parking no doubt - also Belfast less attractive given current price of sterling - simple really !

People in Donegal can fly to Glasgow from Donegal airport. Granted its not ideally located for many in Donegal but its a big county

Michael O'Leary from Ryanair describes City of Derry as a 'difficult market' in a Belfast Telegraph article yesterday.

Does not bode well for the long term imho.

Michael O'Leary: Stormont's great for talking about stimulating tourism but it could do more to support its airports - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk


".....Speaking about City of Derry airport, he said it remains “a difficult market for us”.
“We’ve tried a number of routes there, but it’s a real tough market there, the volumes aren’t just there.”

A difficult market?! Yeah. It would be when you eff around with flight schedules, timings, destinations etc etc.

Speak to the business community in the northwest and they'll tell you flight timings, and the fact most are not daily, makes them unusable. "Tough market"? Nearly twenty years later? I tell you what's tough. Getting to Stansted airport for a 6.50am flight to Derry. When they go, and they will, I won't miss them. When they mess BFS around, and they will, I'll be laughing heartily.

I'm putting my bets on BE giving it a 2nd shot if FR vanish. Maybe some sort of agreement like Cardiff or Doncaster

I agree Cuthere. The flight times that he provides for Stansted are such a pain.6:45am on a weekday! Please!

I've had to take Easyjet back home this weekend because Ryanair were too pricy and their timings were awful.

Who is going to be able to get to Stansted for 5am on a weekday? Especially those of us who don't live in London!

I admit I love using Ryanair into Derry, it is so convenient for me but I can see it being axed.. The services have been declining gradually. The timings mean sometimes I end up going to Belfast anyway as I would have to stay up all night or go to Stansted and sleep there in order to actually get that flight.

BE have already expressed an interest in LDY recently. I think FR will pull STN in favour of BFS, O'Leary may be just sowing the seeds ready for that.

Annoyingly.. Because it could work if he'd make it 2x daily and have a proper timetable.

There was a happy time when STN was double daily. LPL even went double on Sat and Mon for a spell. It's typical FR behaviour: diss the airport you've merrily served for nearly 20 years now the one up the road has allowed you into their bed.

‏@davezambo 40m40 minutes ago
@CoDerryAirport Hello, can you confirm when the Derry-Dublin flights will start?

‏@CoDerryAirport
Hi @davezambo There has been a delay due to technical discussions. Expected to start late spring/ early summer. Will keep you updated.

Van Air Europe hold slots at DUB for flights.

Is that inside info or online somewhere?

Unlikely, it doesn't nean they will be used for LDY or any route, airlines hold slots and never use them.

Will have to wait and see if anythung happens but they have them if they want to use them.

Ryanair in town today to launch Winter 2016, state they are committed to Derry.

Ryanair route chief lands to launch schedule for Winter 2016 - Londonderry Sentinel