Cancer patients in Donegal have welcomed the restoration of a flight service to Dublin that they describe as a "medical lifeline".
Afternoon flights between Donegal and Dublin and the overnight retention of an aircraft at Donegal Airport An Charraig Fhinn will recommence on 1 May.
A contract for the Government-funded air service awarded to Emerald Airlines in January proposed removing the afternoon rotation and replacing it with morning and evening rotations.
More than 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the protection of the service.
As part of the restored schedule from 1 May, the aircraft will once again be based overnight at An Charraig Fhinn, facilitating an early morning departure from Donegal at 7.55am and returning at 12.55pm.
The afternoon flight will depart Donegal at 2.30pm returning from Dublin at 6.55pm.
The Irish Cancer Society had warned that the axing of a midday service under a recently-introduced new contract made same-day medical travel impossible.
It said it forced patients into overnight stays, extra cost, and unnecessary strain.
Kathleen Griffin travelled from Donegal to Dublin for cancer treatment in 2022.
She said she was informed about the "cancer flight" by the nurse from her consultant in Letterkenny who told her she could "avail of it".
She described how the arrangement made everything simpler: "I did go up, it was hard going in the door, but as soon as I went in the door it was the best decision I ever made.
"They took everything from there, I didn't have to worry about it.
"I just told them what date my appointment was, what time, when I had to be there and they looked after everything else and they came back to me and said, right you be there at the airport and everything was sorted from there," she said.
She said the flight was the difference between leaving home in the morning and being in St James' Hospital in Dublin within two hours, compared with "five to six hours if I had to go in the car".
She said "the old arrangement will be back on the 1 May," meaning the plane will remain overnight at the airport in Donegal and the original flight schedule will be reinstated.
Ms Griffin said it is going to make a "huge difference" for those who need the flight and those who do not know that they may need to avail of it in the future.
"Nobody knows what's around the corner, so it's a huge, huge help for the people of Donegal.
"You don't realise it until you're actually in the situation," she said.
She stressed the importance of the flight not just for cancer patients "but all cancer patients that have to go to Dublin, because we don't have any other infrastructure."
She said the flight is a "lifeline" to Dublin as "everything we need is in Dublin."
She described the reinstatement of the flight as a "huge, huge win for Donegal".
Donegal Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher welcomed confirmation of Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien's approval of both measures.
The changes follow months of campaigning led by the Donegal Cancer Flights & Services Group and sustained engagement at Government level.
Deputy Gallagher said restoring the familiar timetable is critical for those who rely on same-day access to Dublin for medical appointments, work commitments, education, and onward connectivity.
He paid tribute to campaigners, constituency colleagues who he said, worked together and Minister Darragh O’Brien commitment to restoring the service.
Donegal Airport previously told RTÉ News that it became aware in mid-January, through third parties, that proposed timetable changes had been included in the airline’s tender submission.
Since then, campaigners and public representatives in the north west campaigned to secure a reversal of the proposal.
A Dáil discussion on the matter heard there was one submission during the public tendering process and that submission included the proposed timetable changes.
The PSO flights between Donegal and Dublin have been operating twice daily since 2004.
Deputy Gallagher said passengers who have booked flights on the early morning departure from Dublin (6.30am) or the late evening departure from Carrickfinn (8.30pm) after 1 May will be accommodated by Emerald Airlines/Aer Lingus.
In 2025, 48% of passengers used the lunchtime flights with 52% using the early morning to Dublin/late evening back from Dublin.
