Swedish airline Amapola Flyg AB has been awarded the PSO contract for the Dublin to Donegal route, with flights starting from Monday, 26 July. The contract will run for seven months.
The Public Service Obligation (PSO) air services contract was awarded to Amapola following the completion of an accelerated procurement process, in line with EU rules, which was launched on the 21 June after the collapse of Stobart Air on 12 June.
PSO Specialists
Amapola Fly AB is a Swedish airline, headquartered in Stockholm. The airline started in 2005 as an air freight/cargo operator and more recently expanded its operations to include scheduled passenger services. It currently operates on 7 PSO routes in Sweden and Finland.
The Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, TD, said: “I am pleased to announce that Swedish operator Amapola has been awarded the 7-month contract to operate on the Government funded Donegal – Dublin PSO route.
“In order to ensure continuity of service on the Donegal route when this temporary contract expires, I plan to launch a further procurement process this summer to provide for a longer term contract of up to 4 years on the route.”
Monister of State Hildegard Naughton said: “The Swedish airline Amapola specialises in PSO routes to remote communities and I think it will be a good fit on the Donegal route.”
CEO of Amampola, Mr Erik Salén said “We are delighted to have won the tender to operate on the Donegal route and are looking forward to welcoming passengers on board when we commence operations from Donegal on 26 July. We are excited to be entering the Irish market for the first time and look forward to flying into Donegal airport which is widely considered to be one of the most scenic airports to fly into in the world.”
Mr Salén added that “flights are now on sale on our website www.amapola.nu and will be available to purchase on the Global Distribution System in advance of services commencing on the 26 July.”
€300m for Irish Aviation Industry
To date, the aviation sector has received approx. €300 million in horizontal supports from the State through employment supports, waiver of commercial rates and deferral of taxes.
Regional airports, including Donegal Airport, continue to avail of the horizontal supports that Government has provided and other Government supports that are available through the Regional Airports Programme.
