Wednesday, December 18th 2013
- Expansion by Aer Lingus Regional at Cork Airport reaffirms its status as Ireland’s second airport and a key transport link for Munster region.
- Aer Lingus Regional to increase in capacity of 25% at Cork Airport.
The further expansion of capacity at Cork Airport is a very welcome development and I want to commend the teams at Cork Airport and Aer Lingus Regional for delivering further growth at the airport. This reaffirms the status of Cork Airport as Ireland’s second airport and a key transport link for the entire Munster region.
This increase in capacity will deliver and extra 50,000 seats for summer 2014. It will also mean that two additional aircraft will be based in Cork. This is a greater number of scheduled options than has been available for the last five years. Clearly, this demonstrates the potential for growth that is possible at Cork Airport.
Cork Airport is a vital piece of infrastructure for the development of both tourism and business in the region. It is important that this is recognised through a process of formalised stakeholder engagement. This process would allow all groups with an interest in the operation of Cork Airport to have an input into its development.
I have raised this issue with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Dr. Leo Varadkar, TD and he has confirmed to me that a Development Council for Cork Airport is to be established. This will provide for strong engagement with, and alignment among, the key stakeholders in the Cork region. It will foster a common understanding, particularly at local level, of issues of concern, potential opportunities for growth, and the operating performance of the airport.
The expansion of services and the establishment of a Development Council underline the progress that is being made in securing the future of Cork Airport. I hope that both of these announcements will lead to further traffic growth that will ultimately benefit the Cork area.