Our Rural Future: €4.9 million air service contract for the Aran Islands

A new €4.9 million air service contract for the Aran Islands (Oileáin Árainn) has been announced.

The PSO contract, which comes into effect on Tuesday, June 7th, will run for four years until 2026. It will ensure essential mainland connectivity for the island communities and will significantly boost tourism.

For the first time, the contract ensures the provision of a direct service from the

mainland to Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr, which will ensure a faster service for those smaller islands.

The contract with Galway Aviation Services Limited, trading as Aer Arann Islands, follows extensive consultation with island stakeholders and a full procurement process.

The contract will provide 68,274 PSO seats annually to the three islands and will operate from Aerfort Chonamara, which was purchased by the State in 2019.

The contract will also see the introduction of a flexible scheduling scheme that will allow operator to better respond to local service demands, such as island festivals and events. ‘Ad Hoc’ and ‘Scheduled non-PSO’ flights will also be provided by the operator to meet any demand above the agreed PSO seating allocation.