Ryanair pawn - Cork must be allowed compete

Ryanair’s announcement that it is dropping two of its Cork routes to Britain has come as a blow not just to Cork Airport but also to the Munster region as a whole, because it will inevitably impact on tourism and thus jobs in the tourist sector.

Ryanair handles 30% of the air travel into and out of Cork Airport. The airline is engaging in hard-nosed business practices, which have been fundamental to its success. In order to attract new destinations, Cork Airport introduced a Route Support Scheme, which provided free airport charges the first year.

The scheme is designed to operate over a five-year period with a 20% drop in the level of support each year. Thus after five years the airline would be paying full airport charges on those flights.