Where did €180m go as terminal ailments put airport on the critical list?

I HAVE experienced the ‘new’ Cork airport on two occasions since its recent opening — as a passenger and while dropping off a friend.

From both experiences I have ended up asking myself the same question: how did they get it so wrong after spending so much money?

My first visit to the new terminal was within a few weeks of the opening.

After being processed though the cavernous, empty check-in area, I proceeded through to departures, looking forward to browsing in some shops, as you would in any international airport. Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten the shops.

Apart from duty-free, there is nothing except a newsagents.

And the most surprising thing of all was that they have continued to hold on to the Cork tradition of walking outside to the plane.

The 25 minutes I had to wait for my luggage on returning from my journey — at a conveyor belt that was so close to the plane that it was in view of the pilot — did not help either, making my short flight almost double the duration.

My second experience there was dropping off a friend recently to fly out on a sun holiday.

There was a massive queue at the check-in desk, even though most of the other desks were unused.

We then went upstairs to departures and were met with a queue that went into the bar.

Needless to say, the last place people should be queuing with their hand luggage and children to go on holiday is the middle of the bar.

Somehow, in this massive building, no facilities have been provided for a queue of any normal size going into departures.

And the solitary, tiny TV screen behind the bar gave little entertainment to those queuing for a flight, or a pint, all in the same place.

If passengers had tried to queue elsewhere, the only alternative was into the restaurant.

The new airport, while it looks good from the outside, is fatally flawed because it is not designed to cater for the numbers that are expected to travel through it.

The worst part of it is that it will not only put you in a bad mood flying out on holiday, it will also put you in a bad mood on return after waiting for your luggage for so long it would probably be quicker to carry it from the plane yourself — all the way across the tarmac and up a massive flight of steps.

€180 million? Where did it go?

Alan Morris

12 Temple Vale

Ballintemple

Co Cork