Stormont “assumed responsibility” for City of Derry Airport last week until 2029, relieving Derry and Strabane council of the £3 million annual subsidy it requires.
The announcement, by Sinn Féin economy minister Caoimhe Archibald, has caused some sharp exchanges of views.
One former senior civil servant at the Department for the Economy called it “a purely political decision designed to assist Sinn Féin win both the Foyle and East Londonderry parliamentary constituencies at the next general election.”
“City of Derry Airport is not remotely commercially viable, a position that I venture will be no different in four years’ time,” he added.
Sinn Féin has demurred, of course, yet not entirely disagreed. Like the SDLP, it supports Stormont taking charge without promising the airport will ever make money.
Both parties highlight wider regional benefits and the willingness of the British and Irish governments to help subsidise certain public service obligation (PSO) routes.
The Derry to London route secured another two years of funding this month, totalling £4.6m. In January, the new Irish government promised to resume the PSO route to Dublin, which last flew in 2011.
Alongside the argument over money, the Green Party has raised an argument over the environment. It accuses Sinn Féin and the SDLP of supporting a “failed” and “polluting airport” at the expense of “greener transport options,” in particular “electric rail”.
Yet it is possible to foresee a clean, prosperous future for City of Derry Airport, perhaps as soon as early next decade.
The economics of small airports may be about to be transformed by electric aircraft, ideally suited to short low-volume routes such as the 120-mile hop to Dublin.
I have seen no mention of this in any political or official debate. Many people seem to consider it a science fiction fantasy.
However, small electric airliners are at advanced stages of development across the world and serious plans are being made for their arrival.
The UK has a target of net-zero emissions from domestic flights by 2040, several European countries have the same target for 2030, and the global aviation industry has a net-zero target for all flights by 2050.
Electric aircraft are envisaged as making a significant contribution to all these goals.
The true science fiction fantasy is the 2024 All-Island Strategic Rail Review, adopted as policy by Stormont and the Irish government.
Its proposal for two high-speed, double-track lines to Derry, including a new line via Portadown, has precisely no chance of being delivered.
There are not enough people on the island of Ireland, let alone in the north west region, to make such a project feasible.
Although the rail network still deserves major improvement, all the capacity and convenience required for fast Derry to Dublin trips could be provided by one or two 40- or 50-seat aircraft flitting back and forth – and more could always be added if necessary.
The same goes for routes from Derry and Belfast to Cork. Small airports that can be walked through in minutes should make these routes especially attractive.
But Stormont should be aiming higher than providing an airport. Sinn Féin has been developing an industrial strategy at the Department of the Economy, based on the fashionable and admittedly rather debatable idea of government ‘picking winners’.
Electric airliners will be built from lightweight composites and powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. Northern Ireland has world-leading expertise in all these technologies through its aerospace, bus and materials industries.
Marine engineering company Artemis Technologies has received UK Government assistance to develop a composite electric hydrofoil ferry in Belfast, with a test route between Belfast and Bangor.
So why not pick electric aircraft as a possible win? Support could be offered for indigenous firms and inward investors, with City of Derry Airport used to attract that investment to the north west.
Few airports anywhere are currently equipped to recharge or refuel zero-emission aircraft. Stormont could make Derry one of the first.
That should not be considered an eccentric suggestion when Belfast Harbour has plans to provide green electricity to docked cruise liners – a far greater logistical challenge.
A large part of the appeal of the rail review to Stormont and Irish government ministers is its all-Ireland dimension. They could replicate that by offering the Derry to Dublin air route as a test bed.
Alas, it is almost certain Stormont will seize none of these opportunities.
But at least Derry’s airport is not certain to be a millstone forever.