CAPA / Aviation Week
16 September 2026
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...
