Donegal Airport () is a regional airport in Ireland, serving County Donegal and the north-west. It is located on the coast, south-west of Bunbeg in Carrickfinn, a townland in The Rosses, a district in north-west County Donegal. It is about a 15-minute drive from Dungloe and Gweedore and 45 minutes from Letterkenny. 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.

History Early operations The airfield was officially opened in March 1978, to serve the nearby IDA industrial estate with an expectation of service to Dublin Airport via City of Derry Airport. Until the mid-1980s, the runway was a grass strip. This was replaced by a hard surface runway with temporary terminal buildings. The airport started passenger operations on Christmas Eve 1985,Irish Press, 25 December 1985, p3 with flights to Glasgow International Airport and latterly Manchester Airport operated by Malinair until its bankruptcy in 1987. The developments to enable this were completed with funds and assistance from the Government of Ireland, private investors, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Donegal County Council, the International Fund for Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund. The Malinair service to Glasgow was briefly replaced by Air Ecosse in June 1987Donegal Democrat, 3 July 1987, p1 before being reinstated by Loganair in 1988.

In 1989 the runway was extended to ,Donegal News, 11 November 1989, p1 with a further extension to , installation of runway safety areas and a new terminal building with modern navigational aids and equipment occurring in 1992–93.

The 1990s Ryanair added service to London Luton Airport (via Sligo Airport) in June 1990,Irish Examiner, 30 June 1990, p3 however this service was suspended in January 1991 due to fuel costs and security concerns relating to the Gulf War and did not resume.Donegal Democrat, 18 January 1991, p1 In 1994, the airport played a crucial role in the relief of Tory Island during lengthy storms that prevented the shipment of food or fuel to the island by sea, with Irish Air Corps helicopters using the airport for uplift of fuel, goods and passengers.Belfast Telegraph, 9 March 1994, p41 Macair, a Scottish airline leasing aircraft from Sun-Air of Scandinavia, briefly launched service to Edinburgh Airport and Birmingham Airport in 1995Donegal News, 4 March 1995, p26 but went bust shortly afterwards

Gill Airways provided service to Glasgow Prestwick Airport in 1996,Donegal News, 5 July 1996, p1 and also 1999.Donegal News, 2 April 1999, p15 Also in 1996, the initial Public Service Obligation contract for services to Dublin Airport was awarded to Ireland Airways, who began operating this service.Donegal Democrat, 22 August 1996, p3 There has been a continuous service to Dublin since.

Glasgow services by Loganair ceased in 1997 when it was under the ownership of British Regional Airlines, but were replaced by Bright Air.Donegal News, 5 December 1997, p5 Aer Arran replaced the failed Ireland Airways on the Dublin PSO in 1998.Donegal Democrat, 5 March 1998, p23 The airport's runway lighting system was destroyed in a vandalism attack on 13 December 1999, p4,Irish Independent, 14 December 1999, p4 with a repeat attack in March 2000.Donegal News, 24 March 2000, p20

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 of Letterkenny, with Donegal County Council preferring to reserve that name for the Letterkenny plans.Donegal News, 2 December 1989, p24

The 2000s From 2001 to 2003, the Dublin PSO route was operated by Euroceltic Airways.

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 by Aer Arann. Aer Arann operated flights to Cork via Dublin in 2009 until they reduced their Cork-Dublin service to six times per week. The route closed in March 2010. In February 2010, Aer Arann closed its service to Glasgow Prestwick Airport and relocated to Glasgow Int’l Airport.

Late 2000s and early 2010s, CityJet operated a Saturday seasonal charter flight to Rotterdam between April and September using a Fokker 50.

2010s Service to Dublin was operated from 2012 to 2015 by Loganair and Flybe using a Saab 340 which rotated via Glasgow to provide aircraft and crew replenishment. Stobart Air, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, received public service obligation funding from the Irish 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.

2020s 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. The contract was awarded for seven months from July 2021 until February 2022. In March 2022, Emerald Airlines (on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional) began flights to Dublin operated by an ATR72-600 twice daily.

In July 2023, Loganair relaunched their route to Glasgow 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.

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 with magnetic declination. New non-precision RNAV approaches were also introduced, allowing suitably equipped aircraft to descend lower to the ground before having to abandon a landing attempt in poor visibility.

Until February 2026, the Public Service Obligation dictating the airport's schedule included a return flight from Dublin in the afternoon. In January, it was announced that this afternoon service would be replaced by an evening one. This was met with backlash from communities throughout County Donegal, who were concerned the change in schedule would impact cancer patients travelling between counties for treatment. Donegal Cancer Flights and Services, a local charity that provides subsidised flights to cancer patients and their families, led a petition that received over 20,000 signatures, which gained national attention and was publicly backed by crooner Daniel O'Donnell. On April 1st, TD Pat "The Cope" Gallagher confirmed that Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien had approved the restoration of the previous flight rotation.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Donegal:

Statistics + Passenger numbers 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% 2025 55,129 9% Sources: Central Statistics Office/Department of Transport

Airport data Traffic permitted: instrument flight rules/visual flight rules Strength Pavement Classification Number (PCN): 21/F/B/X/T Tower frequency: 129.80 MHz Navigational aids: non-directional beacon (NDB) 361 kHz "CFN", distance measuring equipment (DME) 110.3 MHz "IFN", localizer LLZ 110.3 MHz "IFN"

References

External links

Official website

Accident history for CFN at Aviation Safety Network