Cork Airport - *Read Mod Note in First Post Before Posting*

Plan has been published. No mention of a runway extension unfortunately, but not surprised. The new pier extension is due to be delivered between 2032-2034

I'd have thought the new pier would have been done earlier as previous press releases were hinting at a faster completion. Does anyone have a link to the full plan?

https://archive.ph/y0jlR

Kenny Jacobs talking about the runway extension in this article. Also mentions upgrades to Cat 3, and connections to every major European city.

Yes, their long range radar 😉. It will probably be post 2034 before it's shovel ready. I would still like to get a copy of the development plan launched last week. There doesn't seem to be anything online that's available to the public.

Also, there could be two plans floating around the DAA in relation to Cork; as sometimes their messaging refers to a development plan, and sometimes to a master plan.

Taking March and April together to remove the Easter effect, Cork Airport is up 19% in 2025 vs 2024. EI's end to the Amsterdam service was on the 17th of March so has had enough time to take show up in the figures. YTD the airport is up 13% on 24. If that pace is kept up it would hit 3.5 million pax this year. Given the outrageous growth and the non stop talk from the DAA about "European Capitals" there has been remarkably little in new route commitments from the airlines. It looks like the bulk of the growth is on existing Ryanair routes to the UK.

Possibly something along those lines. Their PR in relation to future plans is a bit all over the place. Last Friday they have a big fanfare launch of development plan which doesn't include a runway extension. Then today, just 5 days later, we have the CEO of the DAA suddenly mentioning plans for a runway extension. It would have made more sense to announce it last Friday as part of the development plan; which would have been a nice surprise for the public, as it is the big ticket item that most people are calling for, in relation to future infrastructure at the airport.

I have a feeling that many in Cork political and business circles were disappointed and underwhelmed with the plan's launch last Friday, and are now putting pressure on the DAA to up their game. There's a large concentration of American companies in the Cork area, and not having a local direct transatlantic option must be a bit of a sore point; as one has to travel several hours to Dublin or Shannon, or get a connecting flight to a different country. This is even more pertinent when you take into account the political situation in the States at the moment.

In particular, I'm thinking of Apple, who have recently been publicly calling for improved public transport infrastructure in the Cork area, having had to fork out an extra €13 billion in taxes.

These American companies will need to get a connecting flight in any case.

I don't get the Cork obsession with transatlantic - when we had it people moaned that it went to the wrong airport.

It would better to focus on improving connections to the hubs and other non bucket and spade destinations.

In fairness, that Rhode Island route wasn't going to suit most people. And an evening departure from Cork made it even less appealing.

I don't think there's an obsession with Transatlantic. It's just that it's fairly obvious that a regular flight to a decent East Coast of America destination would do well. But I agree that new connections to European Cities like Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Madrid, Warsaw and Lisbon is more important.

Yeah if Madrid with Iberia and Lisbon with TAP were to be added, hard to see where else could be added. Possibly CPH with SAS and Lufthansa to Munich to complement Frankfurt. Extra frequencies to all the current routes too!

I wonder would EasyJet ever consider a Cork to Berlin route.. I doubt they would worry about any competition from Ryanair, given their situation in Germany.

I can’t see any other airline picking up that route, not even Aer Lingus.

Eurowings? They already serve Dublin also unlike Easy

Ryanair has begun loading preliminary S26 flights into the system. No frequency increases on the routes loaded in.

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place to ask, but I was wondering what is the latest time to check-in for the 7:20am Aer Lingus flight to LHR? I will need to check-in 1 largish suitcase. Is 6:40am cutting it too fine?

I appreciate any feedback.

MJC

Yes 6:40am would be too late since baggage drop off closes 45 min before the flight. I would aim for 6:20am to be at check in.

Yep, just seen 😂😂 I’ll defer to the cork experts on this 🙈