Cork Airport unveils upgrades to parking and check-in, and adds airbridge

Significant investment has gone into technical equipment upgrades in Cork Airport including a new airbridge and car park booking system, in recent months.

Cork Airport has taken delivery of a third airbridge, which will provide easier access for passengers when boarding or disembarking an aircraft.

Representing an investment of €1.4m, the new airbridge will be located at Gate 6 and will become operational over the coming weeks, in time for the summer season.

The new airbridge was constructed by TKE and was transported from Spain to Cork a fortnight ago.

Additionally, through the introduction of a new booking platform for the car parks, customers can make bookings in just a few clicks, and new hardware at car park entry points has been upgraded to introduce automatic number plate recognition technology (ANPR). 

Customers no longer need to present their credit card on entry to the car parks as the vehicle’s number plate will be automatically read.

WI-FI HARDWARE

Cork Airport has also invested in new wi-fi hardware across the entire airport terminal building, tripling access points, providing passengers with speeds up to 200Mbs faster.

Finally, the airport, in conjunction with Aer Lingus, has installed a series of new self-service, express bag check-in kiosks aimed at shortening check-in queue times and to enhance the overall bag-drop experience.

The new kiosks, which are located at the Aer Lingus check-in area on the ground floor of the terminal building, allow passengers to check-in their bags in a matter of minutes.

Niall MacCarthy, managing director at Cork Airport said: “Cork Airport was awarded the Best Regional Airport in Europe in 2025 by our industry body, ACI Europe. Offering the best passenger experience is never a completed task.

“We need to keep on improving, innovating and changing so more and more passengers choose the convenience and friendliness of Cork Airport. These initiatives one by one may seem small but are part of a continuous improvement programme where we always aim for better.” 

Darran Dineen, the airport’s general manager of operations, safety, facilities and IT, added: “We launched our capital investment programme last May and already, we have completed two projects – an oversized baggage screening facility rebuild and the reconstruction of our staff/goods and vehicles security screening area.

“Our large mezzanine floor construction is on-time and on-budget for delivery in December of this year and we will be launching two more significant construction projects next month.”