City of Derry Airport

About City of Derry Airport

City of Derry Airport, often called CoDA, is a regional airport serving Derry~Londonderry and the wider North West of Northern Ireland, including neighbouring County Donegal. It is at Eglinton on the south shore of Lough Foyle, about 7 miles north-east of the city on the A2 road towards Limavady and Coleraine. The IATA code is LDY and the ICAO code is EGAE.

It is a small airport, with one terminal and a single asphalt runway, 08/26, which is 1,969 metres long. UK Civil Aviation Authority figures show 220,933 terminal passengers in 2025, around 23 per cent more than the 179,095 recorded in 2024.

Most scheduled flights go to Great Britain. The Loganair service to London Heathrow is backed by public money from the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and the UK Department for Transport. That funding has been confirmed until 31 March 2027.

How to get to City of Derry Airport

By road

The airport is on the A2 between Derry~Londonderry and Coleraine, and the City of Derry Airport address for sat nav is Airport Road, Eglinton, BT47 3GY. There is parking on site, and car hire is available at the airport. The airport website has downloadable driving directions from towns across Northern Ireland and County Donegal, and recommends arriving at least two hours before departure.

City Cabs runs the official taxi service, with a rank directly in front of the terminal. The trip to Derry city centre usually takes around 20 minutes, and wheelchair-accessible cars can be requested.

By bus and coach

Translink operates scheduled bus services between the airport and its main bus depot on Foyle Street in Derry city centre. From Foyle Street there are connections to other parts of Northern Ireland, including Translink's Maiden City Express to Belfast. Bus Éireann and Lough Swilly services also link Foyle Street with County Donegal and other parts of the Republic of Ireland. Check Translink's journey planner for current times before you travel.

By train

There is no station at the airport. Derry~Londonderry railway station, on Duke Street in the Waterside area of the city, has daily NI Railways trains to and from Belfast via Coleraine. Passengers arriving by train can continue to the airport by taxi or bus.

Terminal and facilities

For an airport of its size, CoDA offers a fair range of passenger services:

• The Amelia Earhart Lounge
• A Fast Track service through security
• An airport shop and catering outlets
• Special assistance for passengers with reduced mobility, with support for hidden disabilities
• Car hire desks and on-site car parking
• General and corporate aviation handling

The City of Derry Airport contact number for general enquiries is +44 (0)28 7181 0784, and you can also email [email protected]. There are separate email addresses for flight enquiries, parking and the airport shop, and a feedback form on the website.

Airlines and destinations

Three airlines run scheduled flights from the airport in 2026. Loganair has the London Heathrow service, several times a day, plus a route to Glasgow. easyJet flies to Birmingham, Edinburgh and Liverpool, and Ryanair flies to Manchester. Heathrow gives access to onward long-haul connections.

Tour operators also run charter flights, including Topflight for Schools, Joe Walsh Tours and Marian Pilgrimages, to destinations such as Verona, Lourdes, Medjugorje and Lapland. The airport says a twice-daily service to Dublin is planned to start in late 2026, though no airline had been named at the time of writing. British Airways no longer flies from the airport, and Ryanair's network here has shrunk to its Manchester route, so older guides listing either airline more widely are out of date.

History

The airfield opened in 1941 as RAF Eglinton, a wartime fighter base, and from 1943 it was a Royal Navy air station known as HMS Gannet. The Navy left in 1959. In the 1960s there were some commercial flights, including a Glasgow service first flown in 1967, and in 1978 the city council decided to buy the airfield.

A redevelopment programme between 1989 and 1993 upgraded the runway, taxiways, lighting and navigation equipment and added a new fire station. It also built a new terminal, officially opened in March 1994. Ryanair began flying from the airport in 1999, and over the following years the route network changed several times. Loganair now runs the airport's main London link, to Heathrow.