Cork Airport

1957 to 1979

In 1957 the Government of Ireland agreed in principle to the building of an airport for Cork. After considering many sites in the area, it was agreed that the airport should be built at Ballygarvan. Tenders were invited for the construction of the airport in 1959 at an estimated cost of £1 million. The airport was officially opened on 16 October 1961, following proving flights four days earlier by Aer Lingus and Cambrian Airways. Vincent Fanning was the first manager at the airport. In its first year the airport handled 10,172 passengers – close to the average number of passengers handled each day at the airport in 2007. Throughout the 1960s the airport expanded with the arrival of more advanced aircraft and more destinations. The first jet, a British Overseas Airways Corporation Comet, landed at Cork Airport on 29 March 1964. By 1969 Aer Lingus was operating to London Heathrow, Manchester and Bristol.

In 1975 Aer Rianta, the then state airports authority, undertook a passenger terminal study aimed at improving the terminal facilities. The findings resulted in the provision, over the next two years, of new departure and arrival halls, a new check-in area, office complex, information desk, duty office and executive lounge. The new extensions and facilities were opened in 1978.

1980 to 2000

The 1980s began with an extension of the main apron. New services to London Gatwick began, while Aer Lingus' commuter division started a new domestic service to Dublin Airport. In 1985 following significant growth, Aer Rianta carried out a survey of the terminal facilities with a view to carrying out a major expansion and development programme. On 8 June 1987, Ryanair commenced services at Cork Airport. The following year, Phase I of the Terminal Expansion and Development Plan was completed. The following year the main runway extension of 1,000 ft (300 m) was opened.

The 1990s began with the completion of Phase II of the terminal expansion in 1991 and Phase III being completed in 1992 with the plan being brought to completion in 1994.

2001 to date

A Great Southern Hotel was opened on the airport grounds during 2001 and plans were drawn up for the construction of a new terminal building and ancillary capital investment works at an estimated cost of €140 million.

Also towards the end of 2001, new Irish regional airline Aer Arann opened its second base at Cork opening new routes to/from the airport.

Along with the construction of the terminal, roads were upgraded from single to dual carriageway and re-aligned, a new short term multi-storey car park constructed and key services enhanced to the highest international standards. Airbridges were an integral element of the original terminal design. However, only one airbridge was built because airline representatives from the low-cost carriers who use Cork Airport made it clear that they did not want airbridges, would not use them and would not pay for them. In the given circumstances, the DAA had no choice but to remove the airbridges from the terminal design during construction of the new facility. The new terminal was completed with four fixed links to the main building and is designed to accommodate additional airbridges if and when airlines indicate that they wish to avail of them.

In 2005, Ryanair opened its 15th European base and second Irish base at Cork. The following year, the new terminal opened on 15 August. Designed by HOK and Jacobs Engineering Group, the new terminal was Ireland's first 21st century airport terminal. In terms of further expansion, the terminal can be extended in the form of additional piers which can be constructed to the north and south.

On 11 April 2008, the board of Cork Airport Authority agreed by one vote to accept responsibility for a debt of €113 million incurred by the Dublin Airport Authority in the redevelopment of Cork Airport to secure independence from Dublin Airport. This was despite government commitments that the Cork Airport Authority would be established on a debt-free basis. The Cork Airport Authority Board also stated that their strong reservations about the level of debt that Cork Airport was being levied with and the potential impact on its future sustainability. On 21 April 2008, Cork Airport Authority chairman, Joe Gantly, announced his resignation effective from the end of July 2008 by which time he had completed five years service with the board. The current chairman of Cork Airport Authority is Gerry Walsh.

The Irish Aviation Authority completed a new control tower 1 km from the old terminal to the west of the main runway. The total cost was €7.5 million and was funded entirely by the IAA with no government funding. Construction began in August 2007 and was completed in June 2008 but it took until mid October 2009 to get all the new systems tested and working. The new control tower officially opened on 20 October 2009 at 00:01.

On 16 October 2011, Cork Airport celebrated its 50th anniversary.

General aviation and business jets

Cork Airport has a long history of general aviation flying. Both fixed wing and rotary wing flight training providers operate at the airport. These flying schools are located to the south of the terminal building, on the east side of the main runway. Cork Airport also serves business jets.

Geographical situation

With an elevation of 153 m (502 ft) above sea level, Cork Airport is sometimes prone to fog and a low cloud ceiling. The Instrument landing system has been upgraded to Category II, and together with a 305 m (1,001 ft) extension of the main runway has significantly reduced the number of diversions. However, during times of severe inclement weather the airport can suffer from delays or diversions to airports such as Shannon, Dublin or Kerry. Similarly, diversions from these airports occasionally land at Cork.

The length of the main runway dictates that the airport cannot handle fully laden large widebody aircraft. Large wide-bodied aircraft do visit Cork Airport on an irregular basis, for example to operate ad-hoc charter services for flights to various sporting events such as those the Munster Rugby team.

Operator

From its opening in 1961 the airport was managed by the Department of Transport and Power, now the Department of Transport. Aer Rianta took control of Cork and Shannon airports on 1 April 1969 and the assets of the airports were transferred to the company under the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act, 1998. The name of Aer Rianta was changed to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) under the State Airports Act 2004, which also created the Cork Airport Authority and the Shannon Airport Authority. These companies were charged with preparing a business plan in preparation for taking over the assets of their airports from the DAA.

Passenger facilities

The main terminal at Cork Airport contains several shopping and eating facilities both before and after the security screening area, a bank with bureau de change service and an executive lounge. There are eight gates in the airport, two of which have an airbridge. There are also various vending machines throughout the terminal. Paid Internet access is available throughout the terminal at computer terminals. There is also free Wi-Fi available for passengers throughout the terminal. Free internet access is also available in the Jack Lynch Lounge for frequent flyers and business class passengers.

There are two hotels located adjacent to the passenger terminal Cork International Airport Hotel, located in the business park, and a Park Inn by Radisson located directly opposite the terminal on airport grounds.

Development plans

In 2013 Cork Airport completed a Master Plan for the overall development of the airport until 2023.

The cargo area, currently located to the north–east of the airport, is envisaged to be moved in time to the south–east quadrant of the airport grounds, south of the current location for general aviation. In moving there, the general aviation area would, in time, be transferred directly opposite the main runway to the south–west of airport, just south of Runway 7.

Using space from the removal of the cargo area, the main terminal could be extended northwards, if ever required, allowing new fixed gates to be built. This would effectively double the current space for aircraft using Cork. The plan calls for the old terminal to be demolished – allowing the current terminal to also extend to the south if ever required.

Parallel plans for the road network and public transport infrastructure also exist – to cope with increasing passenger traffic. These plans include the upgrade of the N27 to motorway standard with two lanes in each direction as well as a dedicated bus lane for city–bound traffic. The roundabout at the entrance of the airport would be enhanced with an under-pass to allow traffic between Cork and Kinsale to avoid the roundabout, thus allowing extra capacity on the roundabout itself.

In February 2017 it was announced that €4 million was to be invested at the airport for new training, screening and restaurant facilities, with the existing restaurant moving from landside to airside.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Cork Airport:

Passenger numbers

Passenger numbers at Cork Airport increased every year during the ten years between 1998 and 2008 by an average of 14.8% per annum from around 1.3 million to over 3.2 million. Passenger numbers fell however during the subsequent seven years to just below 2.1 million in 2015. Passenger numbers returned to growth in 2016, with a year-on-year increase of 7.7% to 2.23 million passengers.

Bus

Bus Éireann serve the airport on a number of routes from the city centre (including route numbers 226 and 226A), from Kinsale (226) and seasonally from Kenmare (252). CityLink Ireland also operate coach services to the airport from Galway via Limerick.

Taxi

The airport is served by taxi, with a taxi rank outside the arrivals entrance.

Rail

There is currently no rail link to the airport. The nearest station is Cork Kent station where you can change for further suburban and intercity rail connections.

Car

Cork Airport is located 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) from Cork city centre at the south end of the N27 when coming from the north, west, or east of Cork and off the R600 when coming from Kinsale. Dublin is around 260 kilometres (160 mi) away and 107 kilometres (66 mi) from Limerick. Cork Airport Authority operates all car parks at the airport, with both short-term and long-term parking within the campus and over 4,600 spaces in total. A number of companies offer car-hire in the arrivals hall of the terminal building.

Incidents and accidents