Airline resumes flights on Cork to Belfast route

THE airline whose service was involved in last week’s tragedy at Cork Airport has resumed its flights between Belfast and Cork.

Manx2’s service on Saturday morning used a Let 410 plane, also a 19-seater with two turboprop engines like the Fairchild Metroliner which crashed at Cork Airport last Thursday.

The flight arrived in from Belfast and departed again at 11.15am, with airline chairman Noel Hayes who had travelled to Cork on Friday, among the passengers returning to Northern Ireland.

The number of people who travelled on the flights on Saturday and again yesterday evening is not known but it is understood the services are not normally as popular as the mid-week service which is commonly used by business passengers.

Flights at Cork Airport resumed on Friday night shortly after 7pm and scheduled services have operated normally there since Saturday morning.

In a message to staff on Friday evening, Cork Airport’s board chairman Gerry Walsh and chief executive Pat Keohane thanked them for their efforts during the tragedy and the aftermath.

“Your excellent response in very traumatic circumstances has been complimented publicly by many including An Taoiseach and the British ambassador who visited the airport [on Thursday] and we have received many other private expressions of gratitude for which you should be justly proud,” they wrote in an email.

They extended special thanks to colleagues in the airport fire service and those who provided them with direct support.

“We appreciate fully that they hope never to have to put their constant training to use in an accident such as happened [on Thursday], but in the unfortunate circumstances that unfolded, their swift, courageous and highly professional response almost certainly saved lives. No higher tribute can be paid.”