Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, is to expand its services at Cork Airport, including the addition of 50,000 seats, as well as announcing new and expanded routes. The airline expects to grow total passenger numbers from Cork to over 300,000 by the end of 2014, an increase of 20%. A new route from Cork to Newcastle has been launched with four weekly services. 
The addition of the Newcastle route and expansion of other routes will increase flights between Cork and the UK to 174 flights per week. As part of a €35 million investment, two brand new Aer Lingus Regional aircraft will be based in Cork from April to service the expanded routes.
The Cork – Manchester route will grow from 28 to 34 flights per week, including three flights on peak days. The Cork – Bristol route grows to 18 flights from 14 flights per week. The Glasgow – Cork route capacity will grow by 10%, while existing services to Birmingham, Edinburgh and Jersey will be retained.
There will also be a doubling of capacity of flights to Rennes, in Northern France, from early June. In order to accommodate tourism travel, Aer Lingus will be adding a Wednesday flight to complement the Saturday service.
Aer Lingus Regional, which aims to double passenger numbers to over two million over the next five years, has overseen a 10% rise in its passenger numbers in 2013 compared to the previous year.
Simon Fagan, Aer Arann’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are delighted to announce our Cork expansion programme. The airline is determined to grow both our passenger numbers and route network. The addition of a new service to Newcastle and increasing of our capacity on three key routes from Cork, provides real choice to the travelling public, and will serve to bring further visitors to the region.
“Newcastle is the gateway to the North-East of England, and is a hub of commerce. In recent years there has been considerable growing economic activity between the two cities, particularly in the energy sector. We are delighted to add it to our Cork offering, which is ideal for business travellers and tourists alike.”
Expansion at Shannon Airport
Earlier this month, Aer Lingus Regional announced an expansion of its services at Shannon Airport, including the addition of 100,000 passengers, new and expanded routes, and the creation of 20 jobs.
The airline expects to grow total passenger numbers from Shannon to 200,000 by the end of 2014, rising to 240,000 passengers by the end of 2015. A new daily Bristol service will commence on 3rd April 2014.
In addition, the airline will double capacity on its Shannon – Birmingham route, with two daily flights, and an additional service on its Shannon – Manchester service, which will now operate three daily flights. Aer Lingus Regional is offering preclearance connectivity from Birmingham and Manchester on to Aer Lingus’s expanding services to New York and Boston via the Shannon morning services.
