Donegal Airport has sharply criticised the Irish government’s decision to press ahead with a revised Public Service Obligation contract for the Donegal to Dublin route, warning that timetable changes due to take effect from late March 2026 will erode essential connectivity for patients, businesses and residents in one of Ireland’s most remote regions.
New PSO Deal Keeps Carrier, Alters Core Schedule
The Donegal to Dublin air link has been operated by Emerald Airlines under a state-funded Public Service Obligation contract since 2022, with the current agreement extended to run until late February 2026. The Department of Transport has now confirmed that Emerald will continue as the PSO operator under a fresh contract intended to secure the route beyond that date.
While the renewal guarantees continuity of service, the new terms introduce a significantly altered timetable from March 29, 2026. The existing pattern, which includes a morning departure from Donegal, a midday rotation and an early evening return, will be replaced by early morning departures from both Dublin and Donegal, with late evening returns and the removal of the daytime service.
Officials argue that the revised schedule meets the minimum requirements of the tender, which specifies two daily return flights but does not prescribe exact times. However, critics in the northwest say the change fails the central purpose of the PSO model, which is to compensate for commercial unviability in order to safeguard socially necessary connectivity.
The new contract is understood to run initially for several years, with the Department promising to monitor demand and reliability closely during the first three months of the revised timetable, and to keep options open for future adjustments if performance is poor.
Loss of Midday Flight and Overnight Basing Fuels Fears
The most contentious elements of the new PSO arrangement are the removal of the midday rotation and the decision to no longer base an Emerald Airlines ATR 72 aircraft overnight at Donegal Airport. For more than two decades, an aircraft overnighted at Carrickfinn, providing a high degree of reliability for the first morning departure to Dublin even in marginal weather conditions.
Under the revised schedule, the morning Donegal service will instead be operated by an aircraft flying up from Dublin, with an early first departure from the capital followed by an early evening return. Local stakeholders warn that this structure increases the risk of knock-on delays and cancellations if operations in Dublin are disrupted, undermining confidence in a route that many passengers use for time-critical journeys.
Donegal Airport’s board argues that the loss of the midday flight is equally damaging. The current timetable allows travellers to leave Donegal mid-morning or early afternoon, attend meetings or medical appointments in Dublin and return the same evening. The new pattern, centred on early and late movements, is seen as poorly aligned with normal working and clinic hours and is expected to inconvenience both leisure and business passengers.
Airport representatives say the changes ignore written submissions and meetings in which they repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining the midday rotation and the overnighted aircraft. Management has described the revised timetable as making little commercial sense, predicting that the very early and very late flights could see low patronage despite substantial state subsidy.
Airport Board Condemns Process and Seeks Legal Advice
In an unusually strong public statement, Donegal Airport’s chairman Garry Martin said the board was “extremely disappointed” that the Department of Transport signed the new PSO contract with Emerald Airlines despite requests from the airport to pause the decision while legal advice was being taken.
According to the airport, officials in Dublin were aware of the proposed material changes to the timetable and basing arrangements as far back as October 2025, when tender submissions were received. Yet, management at Carrickfinn say they were repeatedly told that the department could not discuss tender details until the contract was executed, leaving them effectively shut out of detailed negotiations.
The board only obtained confirmation in mid-January 2026, through informal conversations with crew members about roster changes, that the aircraft would no longer overnight in Donegal under the new agreement. From that point, airport executives said they pursued every political channel available, including direct engagement with the Minister for Transport and senior officials, to seek a rethink.
Despite these efforts, the department proceeded to sign the new PSO contract in mid-February. The airport has since confirmed it is continuing to seek legal advice on whether the altered terms, which it describes as unprecedented in the 21-year history of the modern Donegal Dublin air link, comply with both the spirit and the obligations of the PSO framework.
Government Defends Timetable as Meeting Tender Requirements
The Department of Transport has defended the revised schedule, insisting it remains within the parameters set out in the original Request for Tenders. Officials emphasise that the contract still provides two return services per day, which they say will continue to support regional development and access to the capital.
According to the department, the new timetable is designed to create a viable same day return option for passengers starting their journey in Dublin, with an earlier first departure from the capital and a late evening service back from Donegal. This adjustment, they argue, better balances the needs of travellers in both directions and could stimulate additional demand from the eastern side of the route.
Ministers have also highlighted the level of public subsidy attached to the PSO, estimated at around 20 million euro over the life of recent and upcoming contracts, on top of fare revenue retained by the operator. In their view, the funding demonstrates strong governmental commitment to the northwest, even as broader budgetary and environmental pressures force a tighter focus on cost effectiveness.
Officials have pledged to track performance closely from March 29, 2026, requiring weekly reports from Emerald Airlines and Donegal Airport for the first three months. They say they will review usage, punctuality and reliability before deciding whether further changes are warranted, but for now the core structure of the new timetable is set to remain in place until at least July 2026.
Patients and Campaigners Warn of Harder Access to Care
Beyond the airport’s corporate concerns, some of the strongest criticism of the new schedule has come from medical patients and advocacy groups who rely on the Donegal Dublin route to access specialist treatment in the capital. For cancer patients in particular, the removal of the afternoon flight is seen as a direct threat to their ability to travel for appointments and return home on the same day.
Charities such as Donegal Cancer Flights and Services say they already support patients who face long, tiring travel days to reach Dublin hospitals. Under the proposed timetable, patients may be forced into overnight stays in the capital or into multi leg journeys involving buses and trains if the remaining flights do not align with clinic times or if early morning departures prove unreliable.
Patients and campaigners have organised protests at Donegal Airport and launched petitions, with signatures reportedly numbering in the tens of thousands, urging the government to retain the midday rotation. Several individuals have spoken publicly about the emotional and financial burden that longer trips and overnight stays would impose on families already under severe strain.
Advocates argue that in a county lacking motorway or intercity rail connections, the PSO air service functions as a lifeline rather than a convenience. They contend that timetables should be built first and foremost around healthcare and essential travel needs, rather than airline operational preferences or narrow cost calculations.
Political Pressure Builds Across the Northwest
The controversy over the new PSO contract has quickly become a focal point for political debate in Donegal and across the wider northwest. Local representatives from several parties have pressed the government to intervene, portraying the changes as a downgrading of the region’s already fragile transport infrastructure.
Long standing users of the service in the Oireachtas have warned that later morning departures, the loss of the afternoon link and later evening returns could make same day business and parliamentary travel from Donegal much more difficult. They argue that what appears on paper as the same number of rotations in practice delivers less usable connectivity, particularly for those with fixed public sector working hours or parliamentary voting schedules.
The issue has also highlighted broader tensions between national transport policy and regional development goals. Critics say repeated declarations of support for balanced regional growth ring hollow when a key route out of one of Ireland’s most peripheral counties is reshaped in ways that, in their view, primarily benefit operational convenience in Dublin.
Government backbenchers in the northwest have called for a formal mid contract review clause to be used robustly if passenger numbers on the early and late flights fall short of expectations. Some have warned that if the new timetable produces so called phantom flights with low occupancy, the state risks subsidising services that do not meet genuine public need.
Emerald Airlines Balances Commercial Reality and Public Role
For Emerald Airlines, the renewed PSO contract secures continued access to a strategically important state supported route, but also exposes the carrier to public scrutiny over how it balances commercial considerations with its role as the operator of a lifeline service. The airline has previously signalled that, on a purely commercial basis, the Donegal route would be challenging to justify without PSO funding.
Industry analysts note that the shift away from overnighting an aircraft at Carrickfinn and the changes to the rotation structure likely reflect Emerald’s efforts to integrate the Donegal service more tightly into its wider network, improving aircraft utilisation and reducing the cost of having an aircraft and crew idle overnight at a remote base.
The airline has publicly welcomed the new contract and reaffirmed its commitment to serving the region, citing strong growth in passenger numbers in recent years. However, it has so far left detailed public explanations of the timetable redesign largely to the Department of Transport, with its own statements focusing instead on continuity of service and investment in the fleet.
Observers say that if load factors on the revised early and late services fall short of expectations, Emerald could face renewed pressure from both the department and local stakeholders to adjust timings or reinstate a middle of the day rotation. For now, though, the carrier appears aligned with the government view that the new structure can be made to work within the constraints of the PSO budget.
Connectivity Stakes High for Remote Atlantic Region
Situated on the rugged northwest Atlantic coast, Donegal is heavily dependent on a small number of strategic transport corridors to maintain links with Dublin and beyond. Road journeys from Carrickfinn to the capital can take five hours or more in normal conditions, with no direct rail option and limited intercity bus connections to match early and late flight times.
For tourism operators, the PSO air service has long been a key selling point, offering visitors a rapid and scenic gateway into the Wild Atlantic Way. Hoteliers and tour providers fear that the loss of the midday rotation could make short stays less attractive, as visitors may be forced into very early departures or late night returns that cut into their usable time in the county.
Business leaders also warn that flexible air links are crucial to attracting investment and sustaining existing employers, especially in sectors that require regular contact with partners and clients in Dublin or internationally. They argue that reduced daytime connectivity could make Donegal a tougher pitch for new projects when compared with better connected regions.
As the clock ticks towards the March 29 implementation date, the stakes for the remote community served by Donegal Airport are high. While the PSO contract renewal guarantees that the Dublin route will not be lost, many in the region believe the form in which it will survive could leave them more isolated than before, and they are determined to keep the pressure on for changes before the new schedule becomes the long term norm.