History
Until the mid 1980s, the runway was a grass strip. This was replaced by a hard surface runway with temporary buildings. The airport started operations in 1986 and was developed with funds and assistance from the Government of Ireland, private investors, Donegal County Council, the International Fund for Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund. In the 1990s the runway was extended to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and a new terminal building with modern navigational aids and equipment was added.
Loganair is the only scheduled airline currently using the airport. They receive public service obligation funding from the Irish Government to subsidise the route to Dublin, a contract that was awarded in 2011. The service was previously operated by Aer Arann under a contract award in 2008. On 21 February 2007, the Irish Government announced that it would be giving €3.8 million to the airport in capital grant money.
CityJet operate a Saturday seasonal charter flight to Rotterdam between April and September every year using a fokker 50. Aer Arann operated direct flights to Cork Airport via Dublin in 2009 until they reduced their cork-Dublin service to 6 per week. The route closed in March 2010.
In February 2010, Aer Arann closed its service to Glasgow Prestwick Airport and relocated to Glasgow International Airport
Due to the large gas field in the area, non scheduled chartered Helicopter flights connect to the multiple offshore installations. Eastern Airways operate a chartered service to Aberdeen for this. Their 50 seat Saab 2000 aircraft are the largest aircraft to be seen regularly at CFN.
In October 2011, Aer Arann ceased operations at Donegal due to the loss of the Dublin pso contract. They also ceased the Glasgow route.
Loganair began Services to Dublin and Glasgow international on November 2 2011 with Saab 340s. The Dublin route operates twice daily and is subsidized by the Irish Government. Loganair also operates daily services to Glasgow International Airport.
Read more about this topic: Donegal Airport
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