The Chairman, Board of Directors and Management of Donegal Airport have been notified this afternoon of the intention of the Department of Transport to execute a new contract for the Donegal-Dublin PSO route with Emerald Airlines.
In a statement, Garry Martin, chairman, Donegal Airport said: “This contract is being executed today, despite our written request to the Minister for Transport to hold off on the execution of any contract until Donegal Airport has concluded legal advice on the issue, such advice being sought on the basis that the proposed contract introduces unprecedented changes in the material terms of the PSO. We are extremely disappointed that our request has not been acceded to by the Department of Transport.
“We have attempted to engage with the Department of Transport officials throughout the tender process but have been advised consistently by them since October 2025 that they could not discuss the tender with us until the contract had been signed It was known by the Department officials since receipt of the tender in October 2025 that there were material changes proposed to the existing contract, these specifically being;
- The aircraft was no longer going to overnight in Donegal Airport, which was the case for the preceding 21 years and which gave a confidence to time-critical users of the certainty of departure on the morning flight. The importance of this had been included in written submissions prior to the tender being invited by the Department and was further reiterated verbally in meetings with Department officials in early and mid-2025.
- The midday flights would no longer be provided, replaced instead by a 6 30am flight arriving from Dublin and an 8 30pm flight leaving Donegal. The loss of the midday rotation is inexplicable as this was important to a range of business, health and tourism related visitors, to and from Donegal and was performing very well on a year-round basis. The replacement of the afternoon flights with the aforementioned flights, in the view of the Board, neither meets the needs of customers nor do they make any commercial sense. The Board is of the view that there will be little use made of these proposed flights, despite the substantial monies being provided to the airline to run these.
“On January 13, 2026, Airport management obtained information, incidentally, through airline crews discussing changes to their rosters, that the aircraft would no longer be based in Donegal overnight as part of the new contract. This was the first indication that the Airport had, of a material change to existing timelines. As management had no avenue to discuss this with Department officials as they refused to engage with us, we have, daily, since that date, worked consistently through political links to the Minister for Transport, as this was the only avenue we had open to us to highlight our concerns.”
The statement adds: “We have had numerous meetings and engagements through these channels in the intervening period up to and including this morning and wish to acknowledge and thank Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher in assisting our efforts in that. This included our Chairman, discussing in detail the concerns that the Airport had, with the Minister for Transport & the Secretary General of the Department on 4th February 2026. Our primary argument throughout this process has been consistent, in that the needs of the customer have not been taken into sufficient consideration by the Department and that the submissions made by the Airport, in advance of the tender process, have been selectively ignored or misinterpreted by the Department in their assessment of the tender received.
“We do not believe that the contract being executed today meets the spirit or intent for a PSO route. It does not meet the needs of the passengers using the service, nor does it maximise connectivity to the region. On the face of it, it appears that it favours the requirements of the airline, to maximise income and profitability, at the expense of customers service and at the cost to the taxpayer.
“The airport Board is currently continuing to take legal advice, and we hope to conclude our deliberations in the next few days. The objective of the Board is to run an airport and flights that meet the needs of its customers, in Donegal and further afield, and this remains central to our thinking on how we approach the situation that the Department is now forcing upon us.
“We truly appreciate the patience of our customers and the groundswell of community support that we have received in recent days in supporting our efforts in having the Department of Transport respond to the needs of the people in Donegal. We also wish to acknowledge the strong political support that has been evident as we have worked on this.
“Once we conclude the review of legal advice on this, the Board will make a considered decision on what, on balance, is the best approach to this going forward and will make that position known to our customers and the Department of Transport.”
Meanwhile, Donegal TD Pearse Doherty has slammed the government’s decision to sign a new contract for Donegal–Dublin flights. He called the move “a slap in the face to the people of Donegal”.
Speaking today, Teachta Doherty said:“This decision is a slap in the face to the people of Donegal.
“The Government has signed off on a PSO contract that removes essential flights that people rely on every single day. This is not serving the public. It is doing the exact opposite.
“These flights are critical for workers, for families, for businesses and, most importantly, for people accessing healthcare. Removing the afternoon flight, having a later evening flight will have a massive and damaging impact right across the county.
“What makes this decision even more disgraceful is that it was signed knowing that a delegation from Donegal was travelling to Dublin tomorrow to meet with the Government.
“That delegation represents over 500 cancer patients in Donegal. They were coming to hand over a petition signed by more than 15,000 people calling on the Government to protect this service.
“The Government didn’t even have the decency to meet with them before signing this contract. That shows a complete lack of respect for patients, their families and the wider Donegal public.
“For cancer patients, these flights are not a convenience, they are a lifeline. They reduce exhausting journeys, allow people to attend appointments and get home the same day, and ease pressure at an incredibly difficult time in their lives.
“This decision will make those journeys longer, harder and more stressful. It will hit the very people who can least afford to be hit.
“Once again, Donegal is being treated as an afterthought by this Government, and people here are rightly furious.
“This is not over. I will be doing everything in my power to stand up for Donegal and for the people who will be so badly affected by this decision.
“The Government may think this issue will go away, but they are wrong. I will continue to fight this every step of the way.”
