Removal of Dublin passenger cap would be ‘good for Cork Airport’

Removing the passenger cap in Dublin Airport will be positive for Cork Airport, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs has said, as he detailed aims for new European and transatlantic destinations.

A new scheme, which started last summer, saw incentives for carriers that relocate to Cork put in place for a 30-month period.

Mr Jacobs told The Echo: “We have seen pick-up from the two biggest carriers, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, in terms of putting on extra routes, which is good.

“I welcome that.”

“We’ll continue to incentivise airlines, not just to relocate capacity, but to generally just start flying to and from Cork.

“We really want to draw what was last year’s year-end number of 3.1m and try to get to 4m in the coming years.

“That would be a major milestone, but also a tough ask; a key part of that is ongoing incentives for airlines.”

Mr Jacobs added that there “will definitely be more flights coming to Cork”, saying that broadening Cork Airport’s winter offering is one of his key priorities.

“My hit list of places Cork should be connected to includes Berlin, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Madrid and Lisbon: Big, very popular European cities that will have business connectivity, but are also weekend-break destinations.

“Transatlantic flights remain on our agenda. We continue to talk to, and would incentivise, any carrier that wanted to test and trial the transatlantic market here from Cork.

“It’s most likely to be flights during the summer to the east coast of the US: We would be keen to see that, and would be supportive of it.”

Mr Jacobs said: “There is slightly less of a need for airlines to relocate, because the Irish High Court has decided that, for the seven months of summer, the passenger cap gets paused.

“It’s been sent off to the European Court of Justice for a decision; it will take a while for that decision to come.

“So there’s less of a need for airlines to be worried about if they can grow in Dublin, because they can grow in the summer, but there’s still a really good opportunity for airlines who want to stay based in Ireland to relocate their winter capacity to Cork.

“We’re definitely going to be keeping and extending those incentives we’ve had in place, and we’re happy with the result they’ve had so far, but we want to continue to encourage airlines to start operating here and getting the two big carriers to add more routes here.”

Mr Jacobs explained: 

“The passenger cap in Dublin is bad for all airports in Ireland for two reasons: Firstly, a lot of the tourists who end up exploring the wonderful city and county of Cork come in via Dublin. Dublin has all that connectivity, and capping it will result in fewer tourist numbers to Cork.”

Secondly, he said: “It creates uncertainty if you’re an airline looking to plan ahead for winter this year. I’ve had some airlines talk to me and ask is there a cap in Dublin or is it a cap on Ireland. It just creates a cloud of confusion and uncertainty for all Irish airports.

“The cap still exists — it kicks back in in November — and what’s happened is a few airlines, long-haul and US carriers, while there’s this question mark over Dublin, have decided they’re just going to fly to Gatwick or Manchester.

“I’m from Cork myself, I know, as Corkonians, we all want to get one over on Dublin — but Dublin Airport is Ireland’s airport, so we should think nationally on this.

“Over 40m passengers in Dublin Airport and over 4m in Cork: Those two missions go hand in hand for me.”