Air Travel Procedures & Testing 

The national approach from midnight Sunday November 8 is as follows:

• Ireland’s categorisation of green/orange/ red now refers to EU regions, rather than individual countries;
• Adoption of the EU proposal for passengers travelling on certain essential functions not being advised to restrict movements. This includes essential workers, journeys for imperative business or family reasons (for example, attending a funeral), essential medical reasons for travel;
• Those arriving from green regions can enter the State without being expected to restrict movement or undergo testing for Covid-19;
• From midnight 8^th November passengers from orange regions who have a negative PCR test result for Covid-19 from a test taken up to three days before arrival are advised that they do not need to restrict movements.
• For the time being, those arriving from red regions must continue to restrict movements for fourteen days.

Further intensive work has since taken place to develop an approach for Covid-19 regime that can be implemented for international arrivals from red regions. Government will consider this on Tuesday. It is important that this approach does not in any way impinge on vital public health testing capacity.

It is important to emphasise that Ireland is currently under level 5 of the Government’s National Framework for living with COVID-19 and the advice remains that there should be no non-essential international travel

In addition all residents of Ireland are being asked to restrict movements to within 5km of their home unless it is strictly essential.   Any arriving passengers in Ireland must abide by these public health measures.

Special arrangements for Denmark

Passengers arriving into Ireland from Denmark are advised of the need to take additional precautions aimed at limiting the spread of the newly discovered virus variant in Denmark of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Anyone arriving to Ireland from Denmark (currently red on the ECDC incidence map) should ensure that they follow the existing guidance to restrict movement for a period of 14 days following their arrival into Ireland.  They are requested to do so notwithstanding their journey being ‘essential’ in purpose as defined by the EU. In addition, should any traveller from Denmark develop any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 they should phone their GP immediately and alert them of their recent visit to Denmark. Information on arriving in Ireland from abroad, will be made available on the website of the Irish Government (www.gov.ie) or the Health Service Executive (HSE) www.hse.ie

Health & Safety Procures At Cork Airport

• Passengers travelling through Cork Airport  in recent months will have seen a series of public health measures across the terminal to protect and enhance the health and safety of passengers and staff in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  The measures reflect Ireland’s national COVID-19 guidelines, and also best practice in the European aviation sector as set out in the recent guidelines devised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), to ensure that passengers feel safe and secure as they arrive and depart from Cork Airport.
  
  Only those travelling should enter the Departures or Check-in area of the terminal and passengers are strongly recommended to wear a face mask throughout their entire travel journey, beginning at the departing airport, throughout the flight and until they have exited the airport terminal on arrival at their destination. Passengers should bring their own face mask from home, but if they forget to do so, masks will be available for purchase at the airport.

• Passengers are recommended to check-in online via their airline’s website or mobile app before they arrive at the airport if possible. Plexiglass separation screens have been installed at all check-in desks for passengers who must manually check-in at the airport or drop off baggage. Over 50 plexiglass screens and over 30 sanitising units/stations have been put in place throughout the terminal. 
• All queuing areas have been reconfigured with graphics and signage throughout the terminal to remind everyone of the importance of social and physical distancing. Signage, outlining the maximum numbers permitted in toilets, lifts and breakrooms, has also been installed.  
• Social distancing public address announcements, reminding passengers to observe physical distancing as advised by the Irish Department of Health, are also being played at frequent intervals. 
• State of the art (Covid-19 specifically tailored) cleaning and disinfection of all contact surfaces throughout the terminal, including check-in counters, self-service kiosks, escalator handrails is being deployed. The frequency of cleaning in high volume areas has also been intensified to every 60 minutes. 
• Passengers should present their boarding card to the Airport Security Officer through the plexiglass screen. An intensified cleaning schedule of security trays is also being deployed.
• Announcements reminding all arriving passengers into Cork to complete Passenger Locator Forms as required by the Irish Government and the Irish Department of Health are being made for all arriving flights in advance of approaching Immigration Officers at Passport Control.
• Socially distanced seating arrangements and plexiglass separation at boarding gates are in place. An intensified cleaning of boarding gate areas and touch points is also the new norm.
• Passengers are requested to limit the use of cash in shops, bars and restaurants, with contactless payments the preferred choice across all outlets when they reopen. Socially distanced seating will be in place and no open serve/self-serve options will be available.  
• Passengers are recommended to pre-book car parking in advance online. Contactless pay machines and entry columns are in all car parks. Customers who are pre-booked online can simply tap or insert payment card on arrival at the car park that they have pre-booked and tap or insert again on exit. Customers who have not booked online in advance, can also use tap or insert card facility upon arrival to all car parks, or if they take a ticket, they can pay by contactless at the pay station or at the exit column by both inserting or tapping their card. 
• Car park shuttle bus services are currently suspended but all car parks are within easy walking distance of the terminal.
• Drivers dropping off passengers at Cork Airport can set down on the forecourt for up to 15 minutes free of charge before tariffs apply. The area is set up with an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system allowing drivers to tap their card to exit if their drop off exceeds the 15-minute grace period.