Categories: Press Release

The Construction Employer’s Federation (CEF) for Northern Ireland and City of Derry Airport (CoDA) have joined forces in an exciting new partnership. As the Gateway of the North West, the Airport will be offering convenient and budget-friendly business connectivity for CEF members across Northern Ireland that are regularly commuting to London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as the provision of commercial discount on airport services and facilities.

The CEF is the sole certified representative body for the construction industry in Northern Ireland, representing approximately 70% of construction and around 800 businesses of all sizes that employ over 30,000 staff directly and 65,000 in the wider supply chain. CEF is the Voice of the NI Industry on the UK Construction Leadership Council, BuildUK and the NI Procurement Board.

Mark Spence, Managing Director at the CEF stated: “The CEF is delighted to welcome City of Derry Airport as a Commercial Partner at a time when the construction industry is looking at time and cost-effective connections to sites across the UK. CoDA brings significant additional route choice and the door-to-door time times of this regional airport compares very favourably with the larger airports. We look forward to working together with CoDA to offer local firms’ greater choice and convenience when travelling for business.”

Steve Frazer, Managing Director at City of Derry Airport commented: “We are absolutely delighted to partner with the CEF and offer their extensive community of members the opportunity to ‘Fly Local’ with us. We work with our airline partners Loganair and Ryanair, to provide daily connections to the UK, as well as NI award-winning tour operator, Travel Solutions, to offer holiday packages to Spain and Portugal.

“Loganair operates daily services between CoDA and London Stansted and regular connections to Liverpool and Glasgow throughout the week. A new year-round service to Edinburgh will also be taking off from 17th May. The all-inclusive fare system from Loganair means you can travel with 15kg checked-in luggage and enjoy in-flight refreshments at no extra cost – a huge benefit for anyone travelling on a weekly basis.

“Loganair’s rewards sign up programme, ‘Clan Loganair’, offers regular passengers the opportunity to build points every time you fly which you can then use towards a reward flight of your choice. The airline also offers a ‘FlyFlex’ fare which provides the opportunity to get home earlier, should your plans change, and you can hop on an earlier flight on the same day (subject to seat availability).”

City of Derry Airport welcomed Ryanair back to Northern Ireland in December 2021 for the new service to Manchester. The route provides a convenient connection to one of the UK’s key industrial hubs, with fares available from just £11.99pp one way.

Mr. Frazer noted: “The budget-friendly service to Manchester is available four days per week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday – which offers the flexibility of departing at the start of the working week and returning either halfway through the week or at the weekend, for anyone commuting for work purposes.”

Brenda Morgan MBE, Head of Business Development at City of Derry Airport, added: “The beauty of travelling from City of Derry Airport is the fast, friendly and stress-free experience where you can proceed from the airport carpark, through the single-level access Terminal Building, to your departure gate in less than 15 minutes.

“We will also be offering a special Loyalty Card for the CEF, whereby members can avail of 10% discount on Airport Parking and access to the Amelia Earhart Lounge, making business commuting a much more pleasurable experience!”

For more information on the new partnership between the Construction Employer’s Federation and City of Derry Airport, visit www.cefni.co.uk.