Country's airports reopening for holiday travel after 16 months
The Check-in area at Cork Airport. Picture: Larry Cummins
It may be hot in Ireland for the rest of the week but, after a long wait, those looking to escape to the sun on other shores can finally fly out from the country's airports today.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) which manages Cork and Dublin Airports has estimated they lost about 43m passengers since the pandemic hit.
Chief executive Dalton Philips said Monday is a “hugely exciting and much anticipated day”.
Mr Philips said: “The global pandemic has taken an enormous toll and people are looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends overseas who they haven’t seen for almost a year and a half.
“We have been waiting patiently for international travel to resume and it is wonderful to see customers coming through the doors of our terminals again for leisure and business travel.” He said a lot of planning has gone on behind the scenes.
“There is a great buzz and air of excited anticipation at our airports. We have missed our passengers; our airlines have missed them, and our business partners have missed them,” he said.
He expects Cork Airport to play a role in helping Ireland re-connect to the world after the lockdowns.
Airport staff kept working through the pandemic, supporting the import and export of essential medical supplies and goods.
But the gap caused by the lack of holiday and other non-essential travel was significant.
Mr Philips said: “Dublin and Cork Airports have experienced a loss of over 43 million passengers in the past 16 months.”
Passengers travelling on Monday can expect some changes to the experience, however.
Across the two airports, there are more than 1,000 hand sanitisation stations, almost 1,000 plexiglass screens at check-in and security screening locations, over 12,000 new signs erected to emphasise social distancing and hand hygiene.
They will hear regular announcements to remind people of guidelines.
Every terminal runs with enhanced cleaning regimes and the airport is contactless for shopping and payments.
While many things are going back to normal, access to the terminals is limited to passengers, crew members and staff.
Passengers flying from Cork Airport can choose from six airlines flying direct to twenty European and UK destinations.
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