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History
As part of the national defences during World War 2 various military bases were established
throughout Northern Ireland. Along the eastern coast of Lough Foyle the government located three air
bases at Ballykelly, Maydown and Eglinton.
The Eglinton air base was a Fleet Air Arm base named HMS Gannet and was primarily used to provide
convoy air cover for the North Atlantic Fleet. After the war the base remained a military
establishment into the 1950's at which time the Ministry of defence returned much of the land in
and around the base to the original landowners.
Some limited commercial activities were undertaken at the airfield during the 1960's when Emerald
Airways operated a Glasgow service. During the 1970's the only flying at Eglinton, as it was then
known, was carried out by Eglinton Flying Club. This flying club and flight school is still based
at the airport.
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Development
It was not until 1978 that Derry City Council took the decision to purchase the
airfield with a view to improving the transport infrastructure for the North
West of Ireland. At the time this was a very
forward-thinking decision especially since there were no airlines operating to
the airfield and most
of the airfield property had reverted to local landowners.
Over the intervening years the airport has slowly developed. Loganair introduced the first scheduled
flight between Derry and Glasgow in 1979, a service, which still operates today. This route was the
only route for ten years until British Airways introduced a daily Manchester service in 1989.
The Council gradually acquired most of the airfield property, however by the
late 1980's it became evident that the airport needed major investment if it
was ever to achieve the potential envisaged
in 1978. The Council applied for grant aid from the European Regional Development
Fund and a major redevelopment programme was undertaken from 1989 to 1993.
A total of £10.5 million was spent
upgrading all of the facilities at the airport with 75% grant aid coming from
Europe and 25% coming from Derry City Council. This programme upgraded runways,
taxiways, access roads, navigation
equipment and runway lighting, with the centerpiece being a new purpose-built
terminal and fire station.
The programme was completed early in 1994 and the new terminal was officially opened in March of that
year. The name of the airport was officially changed form Eglinton to the City of Derry Airport. At
that time there were still only two scheduled routes carrying approximately 40,000 passenger per
year. With the completion of the physical work the emphasis switched to route development and the
search for new carriers. 1995 saw the first major breakthrough with the arrival of Jersey European
Airways.
Since then a number of carriers have launched a range of services from the airport to UK destinations including a low fares route to London Stansted in 1999. Also in 1999 the airport secured its the first package holiday charter service to Majorca.
Today the airport has scheduled flights to London, Glasgow International and Glasgow Preswick, Liverpool, East Midlands and Dublin. Two additional routes to London Luton and Birmingham will also commence Autumn 2008.
It also has summer charter flights to Majorca, Lanzarote, Salou/Barcelona and Portugal and will carry over 450,000 passengers in 2008.
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Services
Over twenty years after its acquisition the airport is beginning to have the impact on the regional
economy envisaged by the Council in 1978. The Government's regional development strategy as outlined
in the Shaping Our Future report identifies the city as the regional capital of the North West and
Derry City Council is determined to develop the region's infrastructure in order to encourage
economic development and inward investment.
The City of Derry Airport is being developed as the main gateway to the entire North West region for
both business and leisure traffic. The airport is ideally placed to serve not only the city but its
natural hinterland in County Derry, North Antrim, Tyrone and Donegal. This cross border dimension has
been recognised by both Donegal County Council and the Irish Government who have clearly identified
the airport as the principal gateway to the county.
During 1998 and 1999 various safety improvements were undertaken at the airport with funding coming
from both the British and Irish governments and Derry City Council. These improvements opened the way
for larger aircraft to use the facilities at the airport and major route developments took place in
the Summer of 1999 with the arrival of Falcon Holidays in May and Ryanair in July.
Ryanair operates a direct service between the City of Derry Airport and London Stansted. This low
cost service has proved to be extremely popular with both business and leisure travelers he impact
of this service on passenger throughput has been dramatic growing from 56,000 in 1998 to
approximately 240,000 in 2004.
From January 2001 British Airways have operated a twice daily service to Dublin.
This route was designated as a Public Service Obligation (PSO) route by the Irish
Government, which allows the route to be supported by the Government for a fixed
period allowing the route to develop a stable passenger base. The route is proving
extremely popular with business travellers who can now fly to Dublin, complete
a days business and return the same evening. The service also allows Dublin passengers
to complete a day return from Dublin to the North West. Aer Arann were successful
in taking over the route from British Airways/Loganair in August 2008.
During the summer months Falcon Holidays provides a package holiday service
to Majorca and 2002 sees the first inbound charter to the City of Derry Airport
with IT Ireland Tours bringing visitors from
Switzerland every week from May to September.
Various tour operators offer summer charter flights to various destinations
in Spain and Portugal including Majorca, Lanzarote, Barcelona/Salou and the
Algarve.
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