Charities and business groups demand restoration of axed midday PSO flight as new Donegal–Dublin timetable starts

A quietly published timetable change by Emerald Airlines – the operator of the public-service-obligation (PSO) air route between Donegal (CFN) and Dublin – came into force on 29 March and is already drawing heavy fire from community groups and employers across the north-west. The carrier has dropped the midday Dublin-to-Donegal rotation and the corresponding early-afternoon return service, replacing them with an early-morning southbound flight (06:30) and a late-evening northbound leg (20:30). For many cancer patients, students and SMEs that rely on day-return travel to the capital, the loss of the lunchtime service is more than an inconvenience. Donegal Cancer Flights & Services, a local charity that helps rural patients reach Dublin hospitals, told Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien that the new schedule “turns a lifesaving air bridge into an overnight excursion that people simply cannot afford.” Business owners warned that same-day meetings – already difficult given the county’s limited road and rail links – have become impractical. Under EU rules Ireland can subsidise thin domestic routes of socio-economic importance for up to four years at a time, but the current PSO contract allows the operator discretion to tweak flight times. Politically, the backlash is awkward: the coalition spent €17 million renewing the Donegal PSO last year on the express premise of supporting one-day access to Dublin services. Local TDs have now tabled parliamentary questions seeking an immediate timetable review and the possibility of mandating an aircraft overnight in Donegal so that both early-morning and midday rotations can operate. The dispute also has corporate-mobility implications. Several multinationals with satellite engineering and shared-services centres in Letterkenny say staff will revert to private cars – a four-hour drive – or expensive hotel stays, pushing up T&E budgets and undermining sustainability targets. Travel managers are already being asked by HR to quantify the cost impact before the Government’s promised “within-the-week” announcement on possible reinstatement. Should the timetable remain unchanged, companies may lobby for an expanded PSO specification in the next tender cycle (2027) to guarantee a minimum number of rotations timed for business travel and hospital appointments. Until then, the north-west’s connectivity challenge is back on the national agenda.