City of Derry Airport.
SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan has expressed his disappointment that CityWings has decided not to proceed with a planned route between City of Derry Airport and Dublin.
The company has cited the June’s vote leave result of the EU referendum as the reason.
The blow for City of Derry Airport came after Ryanair recently announced it was cutting one of its flights from Derry to London in the Autumn.
He said: “With the loss of Ryanair routes to London at the start of this month and Citywings announcement today, the people of Derry will be very anxious that this is the beginning of an airline exodus that will hollow out one of our few centres of transport infrastructure and seriously damage our economic prospects.
“The people of Derry recognised that our economy is better served by remaining a full member of the European Union.
“They knew a vote to leave would bite here hardest and they voted to remain along with the majority of people in the North.
“We did not bring this upon ourselves and we cannot allow our future to be sold short by a little England vanity project and a DUP lapdog mentality.
“The First Minister showed the egg on her face in a letter to the Prime Minister.
“She must now show real leadership, put her pride to one side and do what’s best for all the people of Northern Ireland.
“Arlene Foster must resist all moves to take the North out of the European Union against our will.
“Martin McGuinness must to do the same instead of blindly following the DUP’s lead as he has up to now.
“He should be aiming for much more than a seat at the kiddies table in the upcoming EU negotiations,” added Mr Durkan.
