New terminal misses the mark

RETURNING to Cork Airport this week was a salutary shock. The new terminal may have some impressive architectural elements but one cannot help wondering whether the authorities got it badly wrong.

The old terminal clearly needed to be expanded and modernised. However it had certain virtues that suited it for the era of discount airline travel — in particular, it was not over-elaborate and it had easy access to and from the planes.

The new building provides no shelter for passengers embarking or disembarking in wet weather — and that is not a step forward.

It is not a low-cost modern terminal suitable for the 21st century generation of discount carriers. It has somehow managed to double the number of steps to and from the planes that people have to negotiate. Luggage handling still seems to be a major problem.

The last cases that came off my flight were left stranded on the conveyor belt (between ground level and the carousel) for 10 minutes — something that staff informed me is not uncommon.

One wonders if the Cork Airport Authority would have chosen this design for themselves? It looks nice but one cannot but help feeling that a modernisation and extension of the old terminal would have been significantly cheaper and more fitting to the way we travel these days.

Is that why Ryanair would like to move back to the old building?

Paul Fellows

Cois na hAbhainn

Bailick Road

Midleton.