Downgrading airport

One of the criteria investors use when considering a location is access.

A prospective site must be easy to reach for people and it must be augmented by a world class communications infrastructure.

Without both of these, a region quickly falls off international investor community’s radar.

It would be ironic now that we are beginning to get to grips with the expectations around broadband if the south of Ireland was to lose some of the services provided at Cork Airport.

The Irish Aviation Authority may introduce “limited restrictions” to the facility and though we must cut our cloth to our measure, this seems a proposal that might generate its own momentum and begin a spiral that could make the prospect of recovery in the region even more remote.

All regional airports are struggling but any proposal about downgrading Cork must be a cause of concern for anyone who uses it on a regular basis.