Cork Airport wants quarantining scrapped to avoid loss of Ryanair

Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy reiterated that it “strongly welcomed” the Irish Government’s proposal to sign up to the EU common travel framework in mid-October. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Cork Airport bosses have again pleaded with the Government to scrap quarantining in lieu of pre-departure testing as Ryanair threatened to close its operations in Cork and Shannon from October 26.

The airline says it will halt operations in both airports for the winter season unless international travel for passengers is restored with safety measures in place.

The airline issued the ultimatum to the Government, claiming it “had no choice" but to close its Cork and Shannon bases until at least April next year because of the “devastating impact of the Irish government’s mismanagement of air travel” since July.

Ryanair taking the nuclear option to close for the winter has long been the fear of regional airports which rely heavily on the airline’s presence and routes.

The airline’s escalation comes as junior transport minister Hildegarde Naughton said that once the EU’s common approach to travel has been agreed later this month, “the path will become clearer”.

She also told airport management that help is on the way.

However, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said that if the Government does not fully adopt the EU travel regulations permitting unrestricted air travel to and from Europe considered ‘green’ or ‘amber’ from October 13, it will press ahead with the Cork and Shannon closures.

Mr Wilson said that he complained to transport minister Eamon Ryan that recommendations from the Aviation Task Force had gone ignored since they were submitted on July 7.

The airline says it will halt operations in both airports for the winter season unless international travel for passengers is restored with safety measures in place.

“During that period of time, many EU countries, most notably Germany and Italy, have allowed the return of intra-EU air travel without quarantine restrictions, and they have delivered significantly lower Covid case rates than Ireland,” he said.

International air travel cannot be blamed for the increase in Covid-19 cases in Ireland since that time, he said.

Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy reiterated that it “strongly welcomed” the Irish Government’s proposal to sign up to the EU common travel framework in mid-October.

He again told the Irish Examiner that this will require the adoption of a protocol for pre-departure testing for air travel in lieu of quarantines if it is to be successful.

With advances in testing measures, he said, the adoption by the Government of a “standard, accurate, rapid, low cost screening method” for air travel will start the process of recovery for Irish aviation and tourism.

Cork Airport traffic is down 90% compared to the same period last year.

All eyes will now be on the progress made at the European Council of Ministers later this month, where a common approach is to be set out for air travel.