Travellers urged to check with airports

TRAVELLERS planing to travel through Cork Airport today have been advised to check with their carrier as ash clouds continue to play havoc with schedules.

Passengers were ferried from Cork to Dublin yesterday after their flights were diverted because of the ongoing volcanic ash alert.

Three Ryanair and two Aer Lingus flights were diverted to Cork from Frankfurt, Barcelona, Rome, Bratislava and Poznan due to the flight ban at Dublin Airport.

All outgoing flights from Cork, Knock, Donegal and Sligo airports departed on schedule yesterday afternoon and evening.

However, Cork Airport management stressed that all passengers intending to travel today should continue to contact their airline websites to establish the up-to-date position on flight schedules before travelling to the airport.

George Jurajmajo had travelled home from Dublin to Bratislava in the Slovak Republic with four more friends for a long weekend break.

His return flight to Dublin was diverted to Cork at the last minute because of the volcanic ash cloud.

The change in plans meant he couldn’t make his 2pm shift at Tesco in Balbriggan.

“I was planning going straight to work but that’s impossible now.

“I don’t know how my manager will react when I break the news,” Mr Jurajmajo said as he prepared to board a bus outside Cork airport at lunchtime.

Hubert Sawicki was getting on the same bus back to Dublin. Also a Slovak, he wasn’t happy with how Ryanair communicated with its passengers.

“We didn’t get information fast enough and then we were told the flight was being cancelled.

“Then it was being diverted to Shannon. I rang my friends and organised a lift from Co Clare.

“However, then it was changed again to Cork.”

However, Eddie Cassidy from Roscommon was feeling sanguine.

“I’m glad that we were able to get back into the country. We could have been left in Poznan,” Mr Cassidy said.

He was wondering where in Dublin the buses would be making stops. “I need to organise a lift from Dublin to Roscommon.”