Flights halted in Cork Airport on Wednesday due to staff absences

Air traffic control temporarily restricted flights in and out of Cork Airport, due to a staff shortage, halting all activity between midnight and 7am yesterday.

AirNav Ireland, which operates air traffic control (ATC) at the airport, restricted the flow of arriving and departing flights.

Air traffic was restricted "in order to maintain safe operations", according to a statement from Cork Airport.

Operations were curtailed due to a last-minute staff shortage.

One air traffic controller was out sick on Wednesday morning in Cork, and had given AirNav Ireland reasonable time to find a replacement. With ongoing tensions between ATC staff and management, they could not fill the position, forcing the airport to effectively close to all traffic temporarily.

Three people out of a total of 280 licensed air traffic controllers across the country quit their jobs on Tuesday, according to a source, representing a significant loss.

AirNav Ireland apologised to passengers for the inconvenience, saying: "Due to short notice [air traffic control] ATC staff absences on the morning of February 11, AirNav Ireland’s Cork air traffic control operations temporarily restricted ATC services until 7am.

"AirNav Ireland liaised with airline customers, the Daa Cork Airport and the IAA about the flow restrictions."

Many ATC staff are working four to five days overtime per month and fear they will be asked to work more.

Anger over staff shortages and pensions — which ATC workers say are insufficient and failing to keep pace with inflation — is among the factors pushing staff to leave.

Despite shorter airspace shutdowns in Shannon and Dublin airport in recent weeks, what happened at Cork Airport on Wednesday was “totally unprecedented”, one source said.

But Barry Holland, communications manager with Cork Airport said on Wednesday that “disruption was kept to a minimum this morning”.

“Our hard-working teams ensured that passengers were accommodated and that the flights departed, albeit with delay,” Mr Holland said, with all delayed flights departing Cork later in the morning.

One arriving flight from Tenerife was diverted to Shannon after 1am.

Ryanair flights to Manchester and Gran Canaria; an Aer Lingus flight to Malaga; and a KLM flight to Amsterdam, all of which were due to leave before 7am, left later in the morning, Mr Holland said.