7 June 2016
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Passenger numbers at Cork Airport are continuing on an upward trend with latest statistics released by management showing further growth of 9.6% in May compared with the same month last year.
- Passenger Numbers Up 9.6% in May
- Passenger Numbers Up 8.4% Year to Date
- All Markets Up (Northern Europe, UK Provincial, London and Southern Europe)
- Upward Trend Predicted to Continue Throughout The Rest of the Year
Year to date passenger numbers at Ireland’s biggest and busiest international airport outside Dublin are up 8.4%. Growth is projected to continue through the summer months into the autumn as Cork Airport benefits from additional traffic on new summer services including Dusseldorf with Aer Lingus, Madrid with Iberia Express, Leeds and Southampton with Aer Lingus Regional among new summer services this year.
Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, Cork Airport said: “I’m delighted with the growth figures for May and year to date, which confirm we’ve had 65,000 additional passengers so far in 2016 versus the same period last year. Based on anticipated bookings and capacity looking ahead, we are forecasting total passenger numbers of 2.25 million people travelling through Cork Airport this year. This will be an increase of 8% over 2015 numbers.”
Passenger numbers are up across all markets, with a 15.5% increase on routes to and from Southern Europe; London routes are up 10.2%, UK Provincial routes are up 5.0% and Northern European routes up 2.2%.
Kevin Cullinane, Head of Communications, Cork Airport said: “It’s visibly busier. We have more new routes this summer than last, greater frequencies and passengers are voting with their feet to fly from Munster’s friendliest and most connected international airport. We see it every morning from 4:00 a.m. once the overnighting aircraft get ready to depart. Our first departure is at 6:00 a.m. and it is noticeably busier through the early morning wave of departures. We’re seeing more flights and more passengers. These are positive indicators of a very busy summer season ahead at Cork Airport.”
