Long-haul flights from Cork may be possible

JOHN WHELAN (Irish Examiner, February 26) referred to the possibility of Cork Airport somehow finding the money to extend its runway to facilitate long-haul flights and to install a landing system that can deal with fog.

First, the airport’s existing runway may already be within limits for some long-haul flights, including limited westbound transatlantic operations.

It depends partly on the aircraft equipment used for such operations.

For example, the runway at Britain’s Bristol Airport is 122 metres shorter than the runway at Cork, and at a higher elevation, yet Bristol has a daily summer service to New York (Newark) from Continental Airlines and five times a week during winter. All flights are by Boeing 757 aircraft.

If Bristol Airport can put it together for long-haul flights to the New York area there is little reason why Cork Airport cannot do the same in the right circumstances.

Making too many excuses about Cork’s runway length only plays into the hands of the apologists who for decades have showed too much grace and favour to Shannon Airport and its stopover to the neglect of both Cork and, indeed, Dublin airports.

For a while, there was even a certain kind of mentality in Cork that looked on the city’s airport as barely being a real airport at all — it was all a bit of a laugh and a joke, as is the case with regard to many other things to do with Cork, and this allowed the politicians and the Government off the hook.

It was not a laugh or a joke along the Shannon though, where they did not take their eyes off the ball.

One more thing Bristol Airport has got right is that, a few years ago, it installed an instrument landing system to CAT3 standard, allowing more landings in low-visibility operations.

The Cork Airport Authority would do well to take a leaf out of Bristol Airport’s handbook when it comes to dealing with low cloud and fog.

Thomas Whelan

61 Father Matthew Rd

Turner’s Cross

Cork