Everything is looking up at Cork Airport with new destinations set for summer schedule

CORK Airport welcomed almost 2.8 million international passengers in 2023, making it the busiest year for international passengers through the airport in its 62-year history.

Reflecting on the success of the airport this year, managing director Niall MacCarthy said Cork Airport is “very proud” to have served so many international passengers this year.

“Previously, there were domestic services but with the new motorway and rail services, these are no longer served since 2011. So, in international passenger terms, this is a record year for Cork Airport,” he said.

Mr MacCarthy said the airport has made an evident recovery since the pandemic, breaking pre-pandemic passenger number records.

He said the airport is expected to reach a new record next year by serving three million passengers.

“In 2019, before the pandemic, we served 2.59 million passengers so we are growing beyond pre-pandemic levels and expect to continue that growth with more passengers and more destinations in the years ahead,” he said.

Speaking about why people are choosing to fly from and into Cork Airport, Mr MacCarthy said: “Flying can be a stressful experience for people. Passengers want parking at affordable prices and available when they want to travel.

“They want short queues at check-in and a fast, friendly security experience. They want clean surroundings and particularly clean toilets on the outbound journey.

“In terms of the arriving journey, passengers look for a short time from the aeroplane to the terminal - as little bussing as possible - short immigration queues and friendly service and once again, a prompt bag return.

“Our team works very hard to deliver the excellent service expected by passengers. RedC independently surveys passengers in our terminal every week of the year and shares the findings with us on a quarterly basis.

“Cork Airport scores the highest in Ireland across all airports and one of the highest in Europe with scores of 94% satisfaction received in 2023.” Speaking about the importance of the airport’s success to the whole Southwest region, Mr MacCarthy said: “Regions in Europe vie with each other to secure connectivity and busy, healthy airports.

“The reality is that a successful airport is at the centre of a successful region, connecting businesses, families and trade and leading the way in travel and exports.

“If you look at our duty-free shop alone, we are so proud to feature so many Irish food and beverage products.

“For example, we proudly sell in excess of 120 Irish spirits and showcase them to visitors and locals alike. In addition, we are really proud of our Taste of Cork artisan food offering, again, showcasing the best of local food to all passengers.” Mr MacCarthy said Cork Airport has commissioned a new economic impact study showing the economic benefit of Cork to the Munster region and that it expects to have the results of this study in Q1, 2024.

“When it was last measured in 2019, it confirmed that Cork Airport generated over €900 million for the local region,” he said.

During this festive period, over 195,000 arriving and departing passengers are expected to travel through Cork Airport between December 12 and January 10 which represents a 22% increase in passenger traffic compared to the same period last year.

This is in line with the airport’s overall passenger growth this year, in a year that has seen overall traffic up 22% on 2022 figures.

Passengers arriving at Cork Airport this Christmas were greeted with a warm, festive welcome as the terminal building festooned with festive decorations and many local choirs took to the stage at the arrivals area of the airport to perform for arriving passengers.

This year, over 1,200 performers took to the specially constructed Christmas stage in arrivals, including primary and secondary school children from across Cork city and county, local orchestral ensembles, traditional music groups and choral societies.

“This year, we have our biggest Christmas choir and music programme ever with 1,200 participants from schools, music groups, orchestral ensembles, gospel choirs and retirement groups from both Cork city and county,” Mr MacCarthy said.

“Some days, we have three musical performances. It is really emotional for everyone working at the airport and visiting the airport to see the family reunions, sons, daughters, uncles, and aunties coming home from abroad and getting greeted with hugs and kisses by relatives to the sound of the Christmas choirs.

“We have also welcomed some artisan food tastings to give returning passengers and visitors a taste of home at Christmas.”

Acknowledging the hard work of Cork Airport staff, Mr MacCarthy said: “Our staff love this time of year and work extra hard over Christmas to make sure every passenger makes their journey happily and safely.

“We know more and more people across the South of Ireland are choosing to come back to friendly, clean, easy Cork Airport and we wish them safe travels once again at the end of a busy year.” 

Looking forward to 2024, Mr MacCarthy teased that there would be an announcement made in January in relation to a new summer schedule which will include the return of popular routes, and new destinations and frequencies.

“We have exciting news coming in January when we will announce our summer schedule which will have good news in terms of return of popular routes together with some new destinations and frequencies,” he said.

“Passengers wishing to check our routes at any stage should go to www.corkairport.com/destinations/flight-schedule.”