Donegal Airport Aerfort Dhún na nGall | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Aerphort Idirnaisiúnta Dhún na nGall Teoranta | ||||||||||
| Serves | County Donegal | ||||||||||
| Location | Carrickfinn | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 30 ft / 9 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 55°02′39″N008°20′28″W / 55.04417°N 8.34111°W /55.04417; -8.34111 (Donegal Airport) | ||||||||||
| Website | www.donegalairport.ie | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  CFN Location of airport in Ireland | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Source: IrishAIS[1]Passengers[2] | |||||||||||
Donegal Airport (Irish:Aerfort Dhún na nGall) (IATA:CFN,ICAO:EIDL) is a regional airport in Ireland, servingCounty Donegal and the north-west. It is located on the coast, 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi)[1] south-west ofBunbeg in Carrickfinn, atownland inThe Rosses, a district in north-west County Donegal. It is about a 15-minute drive fromDungloe andGweedore and 45 minutes fromLetterkenny. 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.
The airfield was officially opened in March 1978,[3] to serve the nearby IDA industrial estate with an expectation of service toDublin Airport viaCity of Derry Airport. Until the mid-1980s, the runway was a 2,000 ft (610 m) grass strip. This was replaced by a hard surface runway with temporary terminal buildings. The airport started passenger operations on Christmas Eve 1985,[4] with flights toGlasgow International Airport and latterlyManchester Airport operated byMalinair until its bankruptcy in 1987. The developments to enable this were completed with funds and assistance from theGovernment of Ireland, private investors, Donegal County Council, theInternational Fund for Ireland and theEuropean Regional Development Fund. The Malinair service to Glasgow was briefly replaced byAir Ecosse in June 1987[5] before being reinstated byLoganair in 1988.
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 newterminal building with modernnavigational aids and equipment occurring in 1992–93.
Ryanair added service toLondon Luton Airport (viaSligo Airport) in June 1990,[7] however this service was suspended in January 1991 due to fuel costs and security concerns relating to theGulf War and did not resume.[8] In 1994, the airport played a crucial role in the relief ofTory Island during lengthy storms that prevented the shipment of food or fuel to the island by sea, withIrish Air Corps helicopters using the airport for uplift of fuel, goods and passengers.[9] Macair, a Scottish airline leasing aircraft fromSun-Air of Scandinavia, briefly launched service toEdinburgh Airport andBirmingham Airport in 1995[10] but went bust shortly afterwards[11]
Gill Airways provided service toGlasgow Prestwick Airport in 1996,[12] and also 1999.[13] Also in 1996, the initialPublic Service Obligation contract for services toDublin Airport was awarded toIreland Airways, who began operating this service.[14] There has been a continuous service to Dublin since.
Glasgow services by Loganair ceased in 1997 when it was under the ownership ofBritish Regional Airlines, but were replaced byBright Air.[15]Aer Arran replaced the failed Ireland Airways on the Dublin PSO in 1998.[16] The airport's runway lighting system was destroyed in a vandalism attack on 13 December 1999, p4,[17] with a repeat attack in March 2000.[18]
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 ofLetterkenny, with Donegal County Council preferring to reserve that name for the Letterkenny plans.[19]
From 2001 to 2003, the Dublin PSO route was operated byEuroceltic Airways.[20]
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 byAer Arann.[21] Aer Arann operated flights toCork via Dublin in 2009 until they reduced their Cork-Dublin service to six times per week. The route closed in March 2010.[22] In February 2010, Aer Arann closed its service toGlasgow Prestwick Airport and relocated toGlasgow Int’l Airport.[23]
Late 2000s and early 2010s,CityJet operated a Saturday seasonal charter flight toRotterdam between April and September using a Fokker 50.[24]
Service to Dublin was operated from 2012 to 2015 byLoganair andFlybe using a Saab 340 which rotated via Glasgow to provide aircraft and crew replenishment.Stobart Air, operating asAer Lingus Regional, receivedpublic service obligation funding from theIrish Government to subsidise the route to Dublin. A contract was awarded in 2014, and the service commenced on 1 March 2015, using an ATR 42-300 (reg nos. EI-CBK or EI-EHH). The service was operated using an ATR 42-600 (reg nos. EI-GEV) from 2018 until the demise of Stobart Air, in June 2021.
The airport was voted the world's most scenic landing spot in 2018, 2019, and 2020.[25][26]
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.[27] The contract was awarded for seven months from July 2021 until February 2022.[27] In March 2022,Emerald Airlines (on behalf ofAer Lingus Regional) began flights to Dublin operated by an ATR72-600 twice daily.
In July 2023,Loganair relaunched their route toGlasgow International Airport with an ATR42, three times weekly up until 24 September 2023. Due to strong passenger demand on the route, Loganair announced that an increased 2024 schedule will operate up to four times weekly from April–October. The route would continue to operate throughout the winter schedule for 2024/2025, twice a week, on Friday and Sunday.[28][29]
In June 2025, the runway designators were changed from 03/21 to 02/20 to match the magnetic headings of the runway ends, which had gradually decreased withmagnetic declination. New non-precisionRNAV approaches were also introduced, allowing suitably equipped aircraft to descend lower to the ground before having to abandon a landing attempt in poor visibility.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Donegal:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Dublin[30] |
| Loganair | Glasgow[31] |
| 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% |
| 2023 | 41,867 | 13% |
| 2024 | 50,530 | 21% |
| Source:Central Statistics Office[2] | ||
Donegal Airport has been named the world's most beautiful landing spot by global travel fans
Media related toDonegal Airport at Wikimedia Commons
| Northern Ireland |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland (statistics) |
| |||||
Smaller airports handling domestic, charter or private services only. | ||||||
