Cork could miss out on pandemic recovery due to airport closure 

Ryanair closed its two-aircraft base at Cork late last year but currently operates 12 flights to and from Cork from other bases in Europe.

Cork could miss out on the post-pandemic recovery which the rest of Europe will experience, due to the planned closure of the city's airport for essential runway works, Ryanair has claimed.

The airline's chief executive Eddie Wilson said a decision to reopen his airline's Cork base has been impacted by the need for a recovery package and by the planned airport closure for a 10-week period from September 13 to facilitate a €40m overhaul of its main runway.

"If you listen to the most bullish of economic commentators there is going to be a huge rebound in economic activity in Europe," Mr Wilson told the Irish Examiner. "But without a recovery package for aviation, Ireland will have less connectivity which affects everything.

"The reason tech firms like Facebook and the pharma companies in Cork flourish is because labour from Europe can move in and out to a plethora of destinations. But the Government seems to take it for granted that the airlines will go back to where they were after the pandemic. How can Cork have a traffic recovery scheme when the airport is closed because of the runway works?"

Mr Wilson was speaking after he visited Shannon Airport yesterday and announced plans to restore two aircraft at the airport for the winter season. It plans to operate 18 routes after agreeing a deal on incentives.

Mr Wilson said the Government needs to step up to the mark and implement a traffic recovery scheme for Dublin and Cork airports before they lose out to other EU countries. 

Ryanair closed its two-aircraft base at Cork late last year but currently operates 12 flights to and from Cork from other bases in Europe.

Mr Wilson said the Government needs to back the Daa, which operates Cork and Dublin airports to allow them to waive charges or to significantly discount them until traffic levels fully recover.

"We would have no difficulty reinstating the base in Cork if the incentives are good enough. We can even surpass the levels of traffic in 2019," Mr Wilson said.

However, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath defended the runway works saying they are necessary to safeguard the airport's future.

"The announcement by Ryanair is good news for Shannon and the airline still has a significant number of services into Cork. There is great potential to expand those services after the runway works are completed," he said.

"There is never a good time to carry out this work. If it could have been during the depth of the crisis when there was no air traffic then it would have been. It is being completed at the earliest possible time and when the airport reopens, it will be in a position for very strong growth."

Mr McGrath also said the Government is working on a further financial package for the aviation sector. "I am confident, this package will give Cork and other airports the ability to attract additional new services from Ryanair and other airlines."

A spokesperson for the Daa said it operates a generous scheme that gives back €50m worth of airport charges to airlines operating at both airports. "It is absolutely not true to suggest there is no traffic recovery scheme at Daa’s airports."

"Cork Airport has attractive incentive schemes in place which offer 30% discounts on airport charges plus incentive grants for airlines to re-instate their base at the airport."

A spokesperson for Cork Airport said six airlines currently serve more than 20 routes out of Cork. "This makes us firmly the second biggest and best-connected airport in the State. We plan to grow that connectivity significantly further in 2022 working with our airline partners and with strong growth incentives supported by the Government.”

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