City of Derry Airport is the fastest growing on the island of Ireland; what does the future hold?

Regional airports in Europe have had a tough time of things, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic when all varieties of airline business model focused on their main hubs and bases, often at the expense of those smaller provincial ones.

That story could have been the case at the City of Derry airport in the northwest corner of the United Kingdom province of Northern Ireland and supporting one of the economically poorer areas of the nation.

Derry saw its passenger numbers fall dramatically from a 2008 high but recently those numbers have picked up strongly as important low cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet have committed to developing some routes despite the presence of two Belfast airports within a couple of hours journey time and not to mention the powerful Dublin Airport in the Republic of Ireland to the south.

The improvement has been sufficiently strong to merit a claim that Derry is the fastest growing airport in the whole of the island of Ireland.

The question is, where does Derry go from here? There are no evident financial issues with the Stormont (central) government covering operational costs. The basic infrastructure - terminal and runway - is more than adequate for the foreseeable future and the ownership is in local hands, having benefitted from a period of private sector management.

There are numerous route development opportunities both domestically and internationally although commitment to building an international scheduled network would require some investment.

The most important thing about Derry's recent successes is that is shows that a small regional airport, only handling less than 250,000 annual passengers at present, can still present itself as being alive and kicking.