AER Lingus today announced a brand new route for Cork as part of its winter schedule, with holidaymakers soon able to fly directly to Portuguese capital Lisbon.

Beginning October 26, the service will operate twice weekly year round.

Corkonians will be able to jet off to one of Europe's most popular cities, boasting glorious sunshine, grand boulevards and famous cuisine including the legendary Portuguese custard tarts.

Aer Lingus' winter schedule from Cork boasts some 438,000 seats to popular European cities, including Paris and Amsterdam, as well as warmer destinations for those looking to escape the poor winter weather, including Malaga, Lanzarote and Tenerife.

Aer Lingus will grow its winter operations out of Cork by almost 25,000 seats as a result of the new Cork to Lisbon route, as well as additional frequency on its Tenerife service, which will now operate twice weekly.

Speaking at the announcement, Mike Rutter, Chief Operating Officer said, "We are delighted to announce a new route for Cork and further grow our base at one of Europe’s leading airports. The new Cork-Lisbon route will begin as part of our winter programme and will operate year-round. This new route along with increased capacity on our Tenerife service allows us to grow our presence at Cork airport which remains a key priority for Aer Lingus."

Welcoming the important new route announcement by Aer Lingus, Cork Airport Managing Director, Niall MacCarthy said, "We welcome the decision by our biggest customer Aer Lingus to commence operations from Cork to Lisbon in response to strong consumer demand for additional flights from Cork Airport. This new route will be very popular for leisure and business in both directions. This announcement is an excellent development for Cork Airport and the 2.4 million passengers we serve across the south of Ireland."

Fares from Cork to Lisbon start from €39.99 and will be available for purchase on aerlingus.com from Wednesday of next week.