2nd September 2015
- Ryanair’s confirms it is in negotiations to deliver new flights at Cork Airport.
- Traffic at Cork Airport will return to growth next month.
Cork Airport is finally getting back to passenger growth and this reality will be a huge boost to our city and region. The comments by Ryanair have backfired and it has now changed from rhetoric to facts. It has confirmed the fact that it is in negotiations to deliver new flights at Cork Airport, this changed position shows the future is bright for Cork Airport.
The reality is that Cork has attracted new routes and increased capacity on existing routes over the last few months. From next month it is expected that traffic at Cork Airport will return to growth.
Even Ryanair has confirmed that it is in negotiations about new routes and growth from Cork Airport. Clearly the airport is an attractive commercial option for Ryanair and I hope that the airline and Cork Airport will make every effort to deliver on both fronts for the people of Cork.
Our city and county needs a dedicated marketing strategy that will attract inward tourism. This is the missing link that could unlock the full potential of Cork Airport. Both councils have failed to deliver on their remit to promote tourism and Failte Ireland continues to talk about policies. We need to see those policies as soon as possible and we need action.
Ryanair also acknowledged that this Government abolished the Fianna Fail imposed travel tax, a decision that delivered record traffic and tourism growth in Ireland in 2015. In Government Fine Gael has delivered policies that help develop tourism, we are now seeing the benefit of these at Cork Airport. Next we need the local councils and Failte Ireland to do their bit.