Airport numbers bounce back and are up 17.44%

CITY of Derry Airport boss Damien Tierney says passenger numbers at the local facility grew over a highly successful summer season and have bounced back to a rolling average of over 390,000 for the year.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Nov 2011, 10:54 BST

He said the rolling 12 month average was now above 390,000 for the first time since 2008.

The Sentinel recently reported how the amount of passengers using City of Derry Airport had increased nine-fold in the ten years from 1998 to 2008 but had fallen back by 100,000 in 2009 and 2010.

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Now Mr Tierney has revealed the rolling average for this year was up substantially from the final 338,505 2010 figure.

The recovery was helped this summer by the introduction of a new carrier, Flybe, operating to Manchester and the airport’s largest carrier, Ryanair, introducing a new Tenerife service.

All this was achieved despite a general downturn in the aviation sector across the rest of the UK & Ireland.

According to the CAA statistics for September 2011, a total of 35,054 passengers used City of Derry Airport compared to 30,147 passengers for the same period in 2010.

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The Airport Manager, Mr Tierney said: “The rolling 12 month average in passenger numbers continues to improve and is now above 390,000 for the first time since 2008.

“The 12 month comparison between September 2010 and September 2011 at City of Derry and the two Belfast airports is significant, with Derry being the only airport to record a positive increase for the period (17.44 per cent).

“We have also increased our overall share of the NI market from 4.6 per cent in 2010 to 5.6 per cent in 2011.

“This really does reflect both the excellent facilities and routes on offer at this airport but most importantly the support we enjoy from the local and regional community.”

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He said the decision by Ryanair to change the second daily Stansted rotation from Sunday back to Monday has been a major boost to the airport and has been very positively received by regular travellers.

City of Derry Airport are delighted to announce that during Winter 2011/12, 29 weekly flights will operate from the airport.

This includes nine weekly services to Stansted and nine weekly services to Liverpool, in addition to the seven weekly services to Glasgow Prestwick and four to Birmingham.

Related topics:DerryRyanairIreland