Council grants Cork Airport permission to extend car parking facilities

The planning document said that during the recent Easter weekend 'there were a number of cars parked on kerbs to avoid turning passengers away'

A packed car park in the car rental lot at Cork Airport. Cork Airport has just over 4,500 long and short-term parking spaces currently. File picture: Larry Cummins

Planning permission has been granted to expand car parking at Cork Airport to help relieve the pressure on existing facilities that are “regularly at full capacity”.

Cork Airport applied for permission in May to add an additional 669 spaces to the Holiday Blue Long-Term Car Park at Cork Airport, increasing the number of spaces on that site by almost one third.

A recent Red C research poll had shown that the private car is the “predominant” mode of transport accessing the airport which was “unsurprising given the existing public transport provision”.

“The airport is well served by the N27 and also the 226 and the 225 bus routes,” planning documents said.

“These are both hourly services meaning there is a bus to the city every 30 minutes, however they don’t commence until 6am and therefore miss staff and the first wave of passengers who need to be at the airport at circa 4.30am.

“The bus service also misses the later arrivals as services cease at midnight. In addition, bus services do not extend into the wider airport catchment.” 

Cork Airport has just over 4,500 long and short-term parking spaces currently.  This includes 633 short-term car parking spaces at the multi-storey car park and a further 1,673 in the Express Red car park.

Car parking, therefore, was described as an “integral and essential part” of the airport’s transport infrastructure.

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The planning document said: “It is noted that during the recent Easter weekend the car park’s occupancy was 101.8%. There were a number of cars parked on kerbs to avoid turning passengers away.

“Given the lack of public transport options, extending the Holiday Blue Car Park needs [to be] prioritised in the short term, in the interests of passenger safety, comfort and convenience.”

The planning application received one submission, from the Ballinaspig-Firgrove-Westgate Residents Association, a collection of housing estates off the Curraheen Road in Bishopstown.

The residents expressed concerns at increasing air traffic over Bishopstown and said that noise pollution carries health risks. However, Cork City Council decided to grant planning permission for the car park expansion.