Ireland's Department of Transport expects to publish a tender "very shortly" to reopen a public service obligation (PSO) route between Dublin International and Londonderry City of Derry in Northern Ireland, with a contract to be awarded by year-end and flights starting as soon as operationally feasible, according to an update from Irish transport minister Darragh O’Brien. The service had been expected to start in October 2026.

In a September 24 written response to a parliamentary question, O’Brien disclosed that the proposed PSO service is dogged by legal complications. Derry is located outside the European Union and so the route falls beyond the scope of European Commission regulations governing intra-EU air services.

He said the department is consulting the offices of Ireland's Chief State Solicitor and Attorney General on the legal framework to ensure that a pending tender complies with applicable regulations and EU state-aid rules.

O'Brien reconfirmed the government's 2025 commitment to the PSO's re-establishment pending a delayed road upgrade.

The BBC reports that O’Brien had told the Dáil Éireann (Irish Lower House) in May that the service was expected to begin in October. The Irish government announced EUR2 million euros (USD2.3 million) in funding for the route in November 2025 as part of more than EUR50 million (USD57 million) in projects under a Shared Island initiative.

The route was previously operated under a PSO arrangement by now-defunct Aer Arann until July 2011, the BBC reported. According to the Flying in Ireland news site, multiple operators struggled to maintain viable commercial operations on the route from 1981, including defunct Avair, out-of-business Iona National Airways, Aer Lingus Commuter (later merged into Aer Lingus), and Jersey European Airways (later now-defunct flybe. (2002)).