Cork Airport welcomes the Government’s supports for Irish aviation

Management at Cork Airport has warmly welcomed the news that the Government is to provide funding for operational and capital assistance for Cork Airport and a new national airport charges rebate scheme covering the period January to March 2021.

Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport said, “Engagement and action by the Government in terms of funding for our sector is very welcome and appreciated. Cork Airport is ordinarily the second busiest and best-connected airport in the State. However, the aviation sector has been extremely hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and our business is now less than one-twentieth of what it was last year. On that basis, we have a long journey to travel here at Cork Airport as we seek to regrow our network and become an engine of growth for the South of Ireland economy once again. In that context, we strongly welcome today’s announcement of operational and capital assistance for Cork Airport and a new national airport charges rebate scheme covering the first three months of next year.  This week has seen some green shoots internationally, including the adoption of the new EU traffic light system which is the first step in what we hope will be a move towards a widescale safe resumption of air travel within Europe. We are grateful for this support from Government as we start on that process.”

Cork Airport is the Republic of Ireland’s second busiest and best-connected international airport with connectivity to multiple destinations across the UK and Continental Europe. Passenger numbers at Cork Airport grew from 2.4m in 2018 to 2.6m in 2019, an increase of 8% year-on-year. This resulted in Cork Airport being the fastest growing airport in Ireland in 2019.  In 2017, and again in 2019 Cork Airport was named Airport Council International (ACI) Best Airport in Europe in its class (serving under 5 million passengers) and is one of the world’s friendliest airports. Global aviation analysts OAG revealed that Cork Airport topped the punctuality league for international airports in Ireland in 2019 at 84.7%.