LONDON – Ryanair (RYR) has announced its intention to launch seven new routes from Cork Airport this summer.
New routes
The new routes from Cork will, according to The Irish Post, be a major investment in the region, representing a $100 million investment, bringing the grand total to $300 million from Ryanair.
The planned new routes from Cork will be to Alghero (Sardinia), Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Pisa, Valencia, and Venice.
The CEO of Ryanair, Eddie Wilson, has commented on the new routes.
“This is fantastic news for Cork Airport and the wider Southwest region, with Ryanair now operating over 120 weekly flights to 25 destinations this Summer, with great outbound sun destinations to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, but also giving inbound tourism a much-needed boost, restoring vital connectivity and securing jobs in the wider tourism industry.”
“With support from the Irish Govt., DAA have been able to implement innovative incentive schemes which are available to all airlines to rebuild and incentivize traffic recovery this Summer. Ryanair’s latest investment at Cork Airport, which will deliver our largest ever Summer schedule, has only been possible following the implementation of Cork Airport’s traffic recovery incentive scheme for Summer ’22.”
New aircraft
The airline is not only to launch new routes from Cork, but they will also add a third aircraft that will be based in Cork Airport during the summer season. Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport, said that he was delighted by the addition of the third aircraft.
“With the addition of seven new and exciting summer routes including Pisa, Alghero (Sardinia) and Valencia, this will bring the total number of Ryanair routes available from Cork Airport to 25, giving lots of travel options for our passengers and the largest choice of routes to date.
“In addition, the frequency on London Stansted is being increased to three times per day, seven days per week and Manchester will also operate twice daily.”
The addition of the third aircraft would also give Cork a stronger position in terms of operations. This means Cork is able to have a stronger position in the airport and the region.
MacCarthy also believes that the passengers traveling along the southern end of Ireland will help support these routes strongly.
“In that regard, we expect a 750% increase in passenger traffic in 2022 v 2021 and to welcome over 2 million passengers once again to our terminal in 2022. We thank Ryanair for this vote of confidence in Cork Airport.”
Stronger position
The new routes and the big investment in both the airport and region will put Ryanair in a strong position at the airport, as it provide a huge boost, and score some good points amongst the people who depend on the economy surrounding the airport.
It will also ensure that some of the other, lesser-known parts of the country will be explored and thus reap the benefits Ryanair will provide them.
