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Is mian le Cathaoirleach, Bord Stiúrthóirí agus Bainistíocht Aerfort Dhún na nGall a dheimhniú gur cuireadh in iúl dúinn tráthnóna inniu, Dé Máirt 10 Feabhra, go bhfuil sé ar intinn ag an Roinn Iompair conradh nua a chur i gcrích do bhealach PSO Dhún na nGall-Baile Átha Cliath le Emerald Airlines.

Tá an conradh seo á chur i gcrích inniu, in ainneoin gur iarr muid i scríbhinn ar an Aire Iompair gan an conradh a fheidhmiú go dtí go mbeidh comhairle dlí tugtha i gcrích ag Aerfort Dhún na nGall maidir leis an ábhar. Tá an chomhairle sin á lorg ar an mbonn go dtugann an conradh atá beartaithe athruithe nach bhfacthas a leithéid riamh roimhe seo isteach i dtéarmaí ábhartha an PSO. Tá an-díomá go deo orainn nár aontaigh an Roinn Iompair lenár n-agairt.

Tá iarracht déanta againn teagmháil a dhéanamh le hoifigigh na Roinne Iompair le linn an phróisis tairisceana ach tá sé curtha in iúl go seasta acu ó mhí Dheireadh Fómhair 2025 nach raibh siad in ann an tairiscint a phlé linn go dtí gur síníodh an conradh. Bhí oifigigh na Roinne ar an eolas ó fuarthas an tairiscint i mí Dheireadh Fómhair 2025 go raibh athruithe ábhartha beartaithe ar an chonradh atá ann cheana. Is iad na hathruithe sonracha sin:

· Ní mbeadh an t-eitleán lonnaithe thar oíche in Aerfort Dhún na nGall a thuilleadh, rud a bhí amhlaidh don 21 bhliain roimhe sin agus a thug muinín d’úsáideoirí ó thaobh chinnteacht imeachta in am ar eitilt na maidine. Cuireadh an tábhacht a bhaineann leis sin san áireamh in aighneachtaí i scríbhinn sular eisigh an Roinn cuireadh chun tairisceana agus athdhearbhaíodh arís í ó bhéal i gcruinnithe le hoifigigh na Roinne go luath in 2025 agus i lár 2025.

· Ní bheidh na heitiltí meán lae ar fáil a thuilleadh, agus ina ionad sin bheadh eitilt 6.30 a.m. ag teacht ó Bhaile Átha Cliath agus eitilt 8.30 p.m. ag fágáil Dhún na nGall. Tá cailleadh na heitilte meán lae dochreidte siocair a tábhacht don earnáil ghnó, earnáil na sláinte agus earnáil na turasóireachta isteach agus amach as Dún na nGall, seirbhís a raibh ag éirí go han-mhaith léi ó cheann ceann na bliana. Ní chomhlíonann na heitiltí úra isteach ar maidin agus amach tráthnóna riachtanais ár gcuid custaiméirí, dar leis an Bhord, ná ní dhéanann siad aon chiall ar bhunús tráchtála. Tá an Bord den tuairim gur beag úsáid a bhainfear as na heitiltí beartaithe seo, in ainneoin an airgid shuntasaigh a bheith á chur ar fáil don aerlíne chun iad seo a reáchtáil.

Ar an 13 Eanáir 2026, fuair bainistíocht an aerfoirt faisnéis, go fánach, trí chomhrá le duine de chriú na haerlíne ag plé athruithe ar a n-uainchláir, nach mbeadh an t-eitleán lonnaithe i nDún na nGall thar oíche a thuilleadh mar chuid den chonradh nua. Ba é seo an chéad léiriú a tugadh don Aerfort ar athrú ábhartha ar an sceideal a bhí ann cheana. Ós rud é nach raibh aon bhealach ag an bhainistíocht é seo a phlé le hoifigigh na Roinne toisc gur dhiúltaigh siad teagmháil a dhéanamh linn, d’oibrigh muid go comhsheasmhach ó lá go lá, ón dáta sin i leith, trí naisc pholaitiúla leis an Aire Iompair, mar ba é seo an t-aon bhealach a bhí ar fáil dúinn chun aird a tharraingt ar ár n-imní.

Bhí cuid mhór cruinnithe agus coinní againn trí na bealaí seo sa tréimhse idir an dá linn go dtí maidin inniu. Ba mhaith linn aitheantas agus buíochas a ghabháil le Pat the Cope Ó Gallachóir, T.D. as cuidiú lenár n-iarrachtaí ina leith sin. Phléigh ár gCathaoirleach go mion na hábhair imní a bhí ag an Aerfort leis an Aire Iompair agus le hArd-Rúnaí na Roinne an 4 Feabhra 2026. Ba é ár bpríomhargóint sheasmhach le linn an phróisis seo ná nár chuir an Roinn riachtanais ár gcustaiméara san áireamh go leordhóthanach agus go ndearna an Roinn neamhaird nó míléiriú roghnaitheach ar na haighneachtaí a rinne an tAerfort, roimh an phróiseas tairisceana, ina measúnú ar an tairiscint a fuarthas.

Creidimid nach gcomhlíonann an conradh atá á fhorghníomhú inniu spiorad nó rún conartha PSO. Ní chomhlíonann sé riachtanais na bpaisinéirí a úsáideann an tseirbhís, ná ní chuireann sé le nascacht leis an réigiún. Os a choinne sin, dealraíonn sé go bhfuil sé fabhrach do riachtanais na haerlíne, chun ioncam agus brabúsacht a uasmhéadú, ar chostas sheirbhís na gcustaiméirí agus ar chostas an cháiníocóra.

Tá comhairle dlí á glacadh ag Bord an Aerfoirt faoi láthair, agus tá súil againn ár bpléití a thabhairt chun críche sna laethanta amach romhainn. Is é cuspóir an Bhoird aerfort agus eitiltí a reáchtáil a fhreastalaíonn ar riachtanais chustaiméirí an aerfoirt i nDún na nGall agus níos faide i gcéin agus téann sé seo go croí ár gcuid oibre agus go croí an dóigh a dtéimid i ngleic leis an staid ina bhfuil an Roinn ag cur brú orainn anois.

Is mór againn foighne ár gcustaiméirí agus an tacaíocht phobail a fuair muid le tréimhse anuas chun tacú lenár n-iarrachtaí brú a chur ar an Roinn Iompair freastal ar riachtanais mhuintir Dhún na nGall. Ba mhaith linn fosta aitheantas a thabhairt don tacaíocht láidir pholaitiúil a bhí soiléir mar a d’oibrigh muid air seo.

A luaithe a chríochnóidh muid an t-athbhreithniú ar chomhairle dlí ina leith seo, déanfaidh an Bord cinneadh measta ar cad é, ar an iomlán, an cur chuige is fearr ina leith seo amach anseo agus cuirfidh sé an seasamh sin in iúl dár gcustaiméirí agus don Roinn Iompair.

Garry Martin

Cathaoirleach, Aerfort Dhún na nGall

10 Feabhra 2026

The Chairman, Board of Directors and Management of Donegal Airport wish to confirm that we have been notified this afternoon, Tuesday 10th February, of the intention of the Department of Transport to execute a new contract for the Donegal-Dublin PSO route with Emerald Airlines.

This contract is being executed today, despite our written request to the Minister for Transport to hold off on the execution of any contract until Donegal Airport has concluded legal advice on the issue, such advice being sought on the basis that the proposed contract introduces unprecedented changes in the material terms of the PSO. We are extremely disappointed that our request has not been acceded to by the Department of Transport.

We have attempted to engage with the Department of Transport officials throughout the tender process but have been advised consistently by them since October 2025 that they could not discuss the tender with us until the contract had been signed. It was known by the Department officials since receipt of the tender in October 2025 that there were material changes proposed to the existing contract, these specifically being;

· The aircraft was no longer going to overnight in Donegal Airport, which was the case for the preceding 21 years and which gave a confidence to time-critical users of the certainty of departure on the morning flight. The importance of this had been included in written submissions prior to the tender being invited by the Department and was further reiterated verbally in meetings with Department officials in early and mid-2025.

· The midday flights would no longer be provided, replaced instead by a 6 30am flight arriving from Dublin and an 8 30pm flight leaving Donegal. The loss of the midday rotation is inexplicable as this was important to a range of business, health and tourism related visitors, to and from Donegal and was performing very well on a year-round basis. The replacement of the afternoon flights with the aforementioned flights, in the view of the Board, neither meets the needs of customers nor do they make any commercial sense. The Board is of the view that there will be little use made of these proposed flights, despite the substantial monies being provided to the airline to run these.

On January 13th 2026, Airport management obtained information, incidentally, through airline crews discussing changes to their rosters, that the aircraft would no longer be based in Donegal overnight as part of the new contract. This was the first indication that the Airport had, of a material change to existing timelines. As management had no avenue to discuss this with Department officials as they refused to engage with us, we have, daily, since that date, worked consistently through political links to the Minister for Transport, as this was the only avenue we had open to us to highlight our concerns.

We have had numerous meetings and engagements through these channels in the intervening period up to and including this morning and wish to acknowledge and thank Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher in assisting our efforts in that. This included our Chairman, discussing in detail the concerns that the Airport had, with the Minister for Transport & the Secretary General of the Department on 4th February 2026. Our primary argument throughout this process has been consistent, in that the needs of the customer have not been taken into sufficient consideration by the Department and that the submissions made by the Airport, in advance of the tender process, have been selectively ignored or misinterpreted by the Department in their assessment of the tender received.

We do not believe that the contract being executed today meets the spirit or intent for a PSO route. It does not meet the needs of the passengers using the service, nor does it maximise connectivity to the region. On the face of it, it appears that it favours the requirements of the airline, to maximise income and profitability, at the expense of customers service and at the cost to the taxpayer.

The airport Board is currently continuing to take legal advice, and we hope to conclude our deliberations in the next few days. The objective of the Board is to run an airport and flights that meet the needs of its customers, in Donegal and further afield, and this remains central to our thinking on how we approach the situation that the Department is now forcing upon us.

We truly appreciate the patience of our customers and the groundswell of community support that we have received in recent days in supporting our efforts in having the Department of Transport respond to the needs of the people in Donegal. We also wish to acknowledge the strong political support that has been evident as we have worked on this.

Once we conclude the review of legal advice on this, the Board will make a considered decision on what, on balance, is the best approach to this going forward and will make that position known to our customers and the Department of Transport.

Garry Martin

Chairman, Donegal Airport

10th February 2026

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