Survey shows business demand for transatlantic services from Cork

Roy O’Driscoll, Deputy Managing Director of Cork Airport; Ashley Amato, Public Affairs & Communications Executive at Cork Chamber; Niall McCarthy, Managing Director of Cork Airport, Conor Healy, CEO at Cork Chamber; and Tara Finn, Head of Aviation and Business Development in Cork Airport. Picture: Darragh Kane

There have been renewed calls for the re-introduction of transatlantic air services from Cork with a new survey showing 75% of long-haul business travellers flying out of the airport are destined for North America.

A survey conducted by Cork Chamber found 86% of businesses said direct air access to and from Cork Airport is very important for overseas colleagues. They said that the Americas was the final destination for 75% of all long-haul trips taken by companies.

Respondents said that they wanted flight connections between Cork and New York the most.

Norwegian was the only airline to operate a transatlantic service out of Cork. It commenced routes to Rhode Island and Providence in 2017. However, the flights ended in 2019 after the Boeing 737 Max aircraft was grounded following two crashes.

The Chamber survey, in co-operation with Cork Airport, sought views from businesses on their current travel patterns and future route preferences.

More than half of businesses said the UK was the most important short-haul destination for doing business, just ahead of mainland Europe.

London Heathrow comes out as the top European hub airport with 65% of respondents ranking it number one, followed by Amsterdam Schiphol. 

Paris Charles de Gaulle was ranked as the third most preferred European hub for direct connectivity and onward travel.

“The results of this survey are undeniable. International connectivity is of critical importance to business activity in Cork, including to the FDI sector, indigenous enterprise, and tourism," Cork Chamber CEO Conor Healy said.

"While this has been recognised with the introduction of several new routes last year, further routes to key business locations will be required to support continued economic growth in the Cork region."

Mr Healy said the survey results will be used to enhance their own research in discussions with airlines for future route development. 

Last year, Cork Airport saw a strong recovery by serving 2.24m passengers, an 86% recovery on pre-pandemic levels.