2015 marked a real positive change in the fortunes of Cork Airport as it returned to growth in the second half of the year and celebrated 12 new route announcements and four new airline customers – with nearly 400,000 additional seats available in 2016.
New routes for this year include Düsseldorf with Aer Lingus, London City, Nantes and La Rochelle with CityJet, Madrid with Iberia Express, Cardiff with Flybe, and Southampton and Leeds Bradford with Aer Lingus Regional, as well as Menorca with Lee Travel and Stein Travel. Norwegian Air announced its intention to commence a new Cork – Boston service in May 2016 subject to US approval. The airline also announced that it will be operating a Cork – Barcelona service and plans to launch its New York service soon after.
As well as the fantastic choice of new routes, there will also be extra capacity across some of the most popular routes from the region. Aer Lingus announced additional capacity on its Paris, Faro, Barcelona, Palma and Tenerife services. Ryanair also announced increased capacity on its Faro, Reus and Bordeaux services, while Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Stobart Air, increased capacity on its Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle services.
Commenting on last year’s successes, Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport Managing Director, said: “Last year was a milestone for all those connected with Cork Airport as we returned to growth and announced multiple new routes. We are now firmly established as Ireland’s biggest airport outside of Dublin. There is a greater number of destinations and more seats available from Cork Airport than any other airport in the region so we are unrivalled in terms of choice. We are looking forward to welcoming some new and familiar faces this year.”
