Dublin to Derry flights ‘could resume by 2026' in boost to north-west region
Flights between City of Derry Airport (CoDA) and Dublin were cancelled in 2011.
The airport is currently the least busy of NI's three major airports. Recent air travel numbers from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) reveal the airport's summer quarter 2023 saw it welcome 48,000 travellers.
The number is less than half the airport's strongest recorded quarter, when it saw close to 130,000 travellers in July-September 2011.
Since that high point, the airport has faced the loss of routes like Ryanair's former Derry to Dublin flight, and the disruption of the global pandemic.
Irish Minister of State and Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue told BBC News NI that talks to reinstate the Derry to Dublin route are ongoing.
"The Irish government are committed to stepping this forward, have put a timeline in place as to how we can make this happen, and I have been liaising with the minister for transport and City of Derry management," he told BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show.
McConalogue said it been a commitment in the Irish government's programme for government and that it would move forward.
He added that next month the transport Minister Darragh O'Brien will meet the airport management.
McConalogue said the loss has "been a real disadvantage to Derry, Donegal, and the north-west region".
In April it was announced that direct flights between Londonderry and Heathrow will continue to be subsidised for two more years.
It followed an announced by Stormont Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald of £4.626 million of funding from her department and Westminster's Department for Transport.
It will ensure the continuation of flights between CoDA and Heathrow until March 31 2027.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Can the UK still claim to be the fastest-growing G7 economy?
Half-full or half-empty? These latest UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures bring alive the classic metaphor about what exactly is in the reality is that growth of 0.3% in the spring quarter between April and June is a slowing from the start of the year's 0.7% at the same time, the news is positive because the economy had been expected to almost stop growing entirely, based on volatile monthly figures that had already been released. The data for June was much better, which is encouraging, while the bad figure for April - initially showing a 0.3% fall - was revised up to gauge contents of the proverbial glass, pick a latest monthly figure is good, well above expectations, driven by the service latest quarterly data show the economy growing, but the first half of the year, there has been solid growth overall during a fraught time, that exceeds that of other major initial response to the data was that the chancellor and prime minister would now have to retire the "fastest growing G7 economy" line, because it was no longer appears it will be true across the first half of the year, pending final data from this shifts the goalposts a bit, it can be of the criticisms of the G7 boast in the first quarter was that the 0.7% number was flattered by a shift of exports to the US to earlier in the year to avoid potential tariffs as well as housing transactions to reflect stamp duty the January-to-March and April-to-June figures does iron-out some of those one-off both periods shows 1% growth which is more than the rest of the advanced economies. During a period of totally unprecedented global trade uncertainty, a possible oil shock, tax rises and wobbly policy u-turns, that's solid certainly isn't consistent with the recessionary vibes given off in some quarters, which were given oxygen from the bad April GDP figure. The problem is that the doom-mongering - some of it which can be traced back to Downing Street rhetoric from a year ago - could become confidence has not been restored yet. There is a constant cycle of expectations of tax rises that do not help. The result is that UK consumers are saving a double-digit percentage of their income, which is basically pandemic level of post-inflation incomes are yet to translate into a feel good factor and trouble with taxes, worker-costs and job creation for the retail and hospitality industry is clearly very are very visible parts of the economy, and were disproportionately hit by the government's policies so far, and have rolled back their opening of job opportunities, especially for younger these sectors are not the whole economy and June figures showed, for example, the IT industry doing latest quarter would also have been hit by a dramatic fall in car exports to the US which will recover in the coming months after the signing of the UK-US trade trade terms with the European Union and India should also growth, albeit slow, is expected in the next few months. So while it is not particularly fast, the recessionary vibes are off the mark question is now from this point, do consumers and businesses start to act more confidently with spending and investment?That is still up for grabs.
Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
S&P upgrades India rating on economic resilience, sustained fiscal consolidation
MUMBAI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Credit rating agency S&P Global upgraded India's long-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings to "BBB" from "BBB-" on Thursday, citing economic resilience and sustained fiscal consolidation. The agency had revised the outlook on India's rating in May last year to positive from stable on robust growth and improved quality of government expenditure. "The upgrade of India reflects its buoyant economic growth, against the backdrop of an enhanced monetary policy environment that anchors inflationary expectations," the rating agency said in a statement. "Together with the government's commitment to fiscal consolidation and efforts to improve spending quality, we believe these factors have coalesced to benefit credit metrics," it added. The Indian rupee strengthened to 87.58 against the dollar from 87.66, while the benchmark 10-year bond yield fell 7 basis points to 6.38% soon after the announcement. The rating agency also revised its transfer and convertibility assessment to 'A-' from 'BBB+', it said. S&P may lower the country's ratings if it sees an erosion of political commitment to consolidate public finances, while downward pressure could also come from economic growth slowing materially on a structural basis such that it undermines fiscal sustainability, it said. Ratings could be further raised if fiscal deficits narrow meaningfully such that the net change in general government debt falls below 6% of GDP on a structural basis, it added.
Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The Mickey Mouse degrees that could damage your career prospects
The cost of university has ballooned. Rising living costs, high interest and longer loan terms means many will never pay off what they owe – and the Government's plans mean the situation will only get worse. Sir Keir Starmer will raise university tuition fees for the first time in eight years to £9,535 from September 2025. The average university degree leaves graduates with £45,600 in debt – but some have risen to more than £230,000. Students going to university this year taking out student loans will be on the 'Plan 5' scheme, introduced last year. They will start repayments once their earnings exceed £25,000 the April after graduation, and could stand to make repayments for up to 40 years. With the significant cost of embarking upon a university degree, it is therefore imperative that students take up a job that can adequately prepare them for the world of work, and help them get a job in the process. In this article, we take a look at some of the worst value for money degrees available, and highlight the ones you should think twice about before applying for. We will cover the following topics: What are Mickey Mouse degrees? 'Mickey Mouse' degrees is a term used to denote certain university degrees that do not prepare graduates for the job market and are looked upon as worthless by would-be employers. The Tories once promised to crack down on so-called 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, shorthand for degree courses that are worthless or irrelevant. Then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that the cash saved by scrapping 'rip-off' degrees would be ploughed into funding 100,000 high-skill apprenticeships. Indeed, in its final Budget in March 2024, the Conservative Government announced it would fully fund apprenticeships by paying the full cost of training anyone up to the age of 21, in a move to reduce costs to small businesses and deliver 'more opportunities for young people to kick start their careers'. University degrees might therefore be less tempting, as research has now revealed the degrees that are the worst value for money in 2025, a list which includes academic staples such as Geography. The worst value for money degrees based on earning potential Jobs website Adzuna analysed the career pathways grads of different subjects commonly take after leaving university, and what they could expect to be earning five years into their careers based on current market conditions. The results found the degrees which are the worst value for money, with those on the lowest-ranking course making an average of £23,126 five years after graduation, as shown in the table below. Adzuna's research revealed that photography degrees offer the worst value for money, as graduates earn an average salary of £23,030 five years after graduation. It was followed by courses in criminology (£23,420), geography (£23,445), and translation (£23,498). How 'Mickey Mouse' degrees can lead to a good salary However, some graduates have bucked this trend. Ben Galyas who studied fine arts at Chelsea College of Arts, a constituent of UAL, now earns over £100,000 a year plus bonuses. However, the 30-year-old has not carved out a lucrative living by becoming a professional artist, instead taking a sales job connecting media and tech businesses. But Mr Galyas said 'being able to articulate difficult or intangible concepts is genuinely helpful in business'. He explains: 'Fine art is probably the only degree that's largely discourse-led – very little dictatorial teaching and obviously no exams – which definitely helps in a sales job.' Mr Galyas has not entirely abandoned professional artistic pursuits either, and still has a studio practice through which he has put on shows. He said: 'I think you have to be incredibly self-motivated to get through an art degree. 'I probably do two evenings and one Sunday a week in the studio.' After graduating he found art graduates have very few options for corporate jobs outside of sales – and there are very few entry level jobs in the arts industry for the number of grads being churned out by colleges. How university degrees impact career prospects Adzuna's figures showed 36pc of university degrees do not lead to an average salary above £30,000 within five years – slightly improved from last year's 40pc. It comes as British universities face a funding crisis as the number of international students is falling, with some institutions already making sweeping cost cuts. For the first time, universities have faced a drop in applications for the second year in a row, with teenagers in the northeast especially turning their backs on further education. Figures from the University College Admissions Service (Ucas) show that 40.6pc of 18-year-olds had applied for a place at university, compared to 41.3pc last year and 42.1pc in 2023. In Wales, only 32pc of school leavers applied through Ucas. Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation, a think tank, said the stagnation of graduate salaries could make apprenticeships a 'serious consideration' for young jobseekers. '[Adzuna's] figures paint a depressing picture for young graduates,' she said. 'By going to higher education and taking on debt, students did what society told them would bring them a graduate premium. Now it seems that graduates get to keep the debt but not the pay premium promised.'
