City of Derry Airport

City of Derry Airport Londonderry/Eglinton Airport (As used by ICAO)

IATA: LDY - ICAO: EGAE
Summary <tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Airport type</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Public</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Operator</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Derry City Council</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Serves</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Derry</td></tr>
Elevation AMSL		22 ft (7 m)
Coordinates		55°02′34″N, 007°09′40″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
02/20	3,950	1,204	Asphalt
08/26	6,076	1,852	Asphalt

City of Derry Airport Entrance.

City of Derry Airport (IATA: LDY, ICAO: EGAE) serves Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland and the surrounding areas. It is located near Lough Foyle and the village of Eglinton, 13 kilometres (8 miles) east northeast of the city centre. Passenger numbers in 2004 were almost 239,000.

The airport has its origins in World War II. In 1941 RAF Eglinton air base was established as home to No. 133 Squadron RAF which flew Hurricane fighters in defence of the city. In 1942 the base was occupied by No. 41 Squadron RAF. In 1943 the airfield became a Fleet Air Arm base called HMS Gannet and was home to No. 1847 Fleet Air Arm Squadron which provided convoy air cover as part of the Second Battle of the Atlantic.

After the war the base remained a military establishment until the 1950s when the Ministry of Defence returned much of the land to the original landowners. The original name of the airport was Londonderry Eglinton Airport. Some limited commercial activities were undertaken at the airfield during the 1960s when Emerald Airways operated a Glasgow service. During most of the 1970s the only flying at Eglinton was carried out by Eglinton Flying Club which is still based at the airport. In 1978 Londonderry County Borough Council (now called Derry City Council) decided to purchase the airfield with a view to improving the transport infrastructure for the North-West of Ireland. The airport has slowly developed since then. Loganair introduced the first scheduled flight between Londonderry and Glasgow in 1979 and it still operates today. This route was the only route for ten years until British Airways introduced a daily Manchester service in 1989.

A major redevelopment programme was undertaken by the Council from 1989 to 1993 with grant aid from the European Regional Development Fund. £10.5 million was spent upgrading all of the facilities at the airport including runways, taxiways, access roads, navigation equipment and runway lighting, as well as a new purpose-built terminal and fire station. The new terminal was officially opened in March 1994. The name of the airport was officially changed form Londonderry Eglinton to the City of Derry Airport. At that time there were still only two scheduled routes carrying about 40,000 passenger each year. 1995 saw the arrival of Jersey European Airways.

During 1998 and 1999 safety improvements were undertaken at the airport with funding coming from both the British and Irish governments and Derry City Council, as the airport serves much of North-West Ireland. These improvements meant that larger aircraft could use the airport and Falcon Holidays started holiday charter flights in May 1999 and Ryanair followed with scheduled flights in July 1999. This Ryanair service to London (Stansted) grew substantially and British Airways also started a number of routes. In June 2004 Aer Arann commenced services to Birmingham and Manchester.

In March 2006, the Irish airline Eirjet issued an apology after a flight it operated from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to City of Derry Airport on behalf of Ryanair landed at the wrong airfield, touching down at an army base in Ballykelly 6 miles away from its intended destination. The statement explained that the incident was caused by an "error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport". [1]

In May 2006, the EU Commission gave is approval for the Irish and British governments to invest €15 million in the airport.