THERE is a major blow for thousands of passengers as an airport bus has been cancelled due to financial difficulties.
Airport Hopper Holdings Ltd has confirmed that the impacted routes have been discontinued since February 10.
The service between Maynooth and Tallaght will no longer operate as the company confirms there are not enough passengers using the route to justify continuing to run it.
The Maynooth service ran from Maynooth to Dublin Airport stopping at Leixlip, Lucan and Liffey Valley.
And the Tallaght route served Clondalkin and Liffey Valley.
The company has said the Airport Hopper website has not been taking bookings since February 9.
A technical error appears on the site when attempting to book.
The company has confirmed staff have been notified and the National Transport Authority has also been informed the services have been “paused”.
The company told RTE they “tried everything” but were unable to keep up with “spiralling costs” amid a lack of demand for the services.
This move included cutting fares in an attempt to increase numbers.
They told RTE that it is “financially unsustainable for a long period of time with passenger numbers on the routes not being sufficient to make the service viable”.
They added the challenge came “in an environment of spiralling costs including fuelling, tolls, insurance and airport charges.”
Dualway had originally owned the licence for the airport hopper routes but has said it sold the licence for the two cancelled routes in 2021.
The NTA has said when a service is ceased, it may assess to determine whether the loss causes a deficiency in connectivity.
If so, the organisation may put solutions in place such as a Public Service Obligation route.
The shut-down of the service has been met with fury from customers who claim they were unaware the service had been ceased.
Posting on social media one person said: “Booked in advance for pick up.
“They didn’t show up yesterday so I went on PayPal to ask for a refund. Got it instantly!”
Another added: “Just wasn’t busy enough I took it a few times and was the only one on the bus.”
Another said: “That is a pity.”
The company have said anyone who pre-booked tickets for the routes no longer operating would receive a full refund.
