US couple’s arrival sees Cork Airport pass two million passenger mark

An American couple were the toast of Cork Airport this week after their arrival on Leeside saw passenger numbers through the terminal this year pass the magical two million mark.

Greg Baxter, of Nebraska, and his wife Adrienne were greeted with champagne and a hamper as they emerged through the arrivals gate on Wednesday afternoon, after their KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight KL1127 from Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol touched down on the Cork runway.

An airport spokesperson said: “The good news from Cork Airport just keeps on coming this week.

“Today was a particularly momentous occasion for all at the airport as we welcomed our two millionth passenger this year.”

They said that Greg and Adriene Baxter had flown from Nebraska to Cork with Delta Air Lines and KLM, connecting in Minneapolis–Saint Paul and Amsterdam en route.

Holiday

The couple chose Cork as their destination as they are starting an Irish holiday with friends in Killarney, Co Kerry.

They were welcomed on their arrival at Cork Airport and presented with a special hamper by Tara Finn, head of aviation business development & communications; Pat O’Connor, retail operations manager at Cork Airport Duty Free, and Yehor Siziukhin, passenger services agent, Swissport.

“Congratulations Greg and Adriene,” said the spokesperson.

“We hope you have a great holiday in Ireland and thank you for choosing to fly into Cork Airport.”

The airport enjoyed the busiest year in its 62-year history for international passenger traffic last year, with 2.8 million passengers travelling through, a 25% increase on 2022 levels.

Passenger numbers are already up 11% at Cork Airport when compared to this time last year, with the airport on course for another record-breaking year with a total of three million passengers expected to pass through over the course of 2024.

Passenger numbers will be boosted by the addition of a number of new flights this year, including to Brussels Charleroi, Rhodes, and Zadar this summer. In addition, the airport this week announced a new four-times-weekly service to Glasgow from October 27 and three additional flights to Bristol.