Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton T.D. attended the launch of the 2022/2023 Winter Schedule at Cork Airport.
The 2022/23 Cork Airport Winter Schedule features over 1.1 million seats across 27 routes, served by five airlines.
Cork Airport — September 26, 2022 — Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton T.D. has officially launched Cork Airport’s biggest ever Winter Schedule. The biggest ever winter schedule features over 1.1 million seats across 27 routes, served by 5 airlines. Cork Airport is expected to serve 2.1 million passengers this year and customers from across the South of Ireland have an extensive range of destinations to choose from including winter sun, city break and ski holiday destinations. The Cork Airport Winter Schedule will operate from October 30, 2022, through to March 31, 2023.
Speaking at the launch of the Cork Airport 2022/23 Winter Schedule, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton T.D. said:
“Aviation plays a critical role in our economy, as a direct and indirect employer, and serves as a driving force for tourism and business. Recognising this, Government provided over €161m last year for aviation specific supports, including over €25m to Cork Airport. Almost €17m of this funding supported the airport’s runway reconstruction project as well as all the airport’s eligible safety and security related operational costs. In addition, supplementary supports of €8m provided the Airport with the flexibility to offer route incentives and other incentives to stimulate the restoration of scheduled air services. This is demonstrated in the impressive Winter Schedule of services that will operate from Cork Airport. It provides further enhancement of international connectivity for Cork and the wider region and reflects the airport’s continued positive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Government is continuing to support Cork Airport. €5.5m in capital funding was allocated to Cork Airport earlier this year to complete a broad range of safety, security and sustainability focused projects and I intend to provide further funding to Cork Airport later this year from the €22m allocation in operational funding for our regional airports.”
“Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the staff to this ongoing recovery in what has been a challenging time for the sector.”
Acting Managing Director at Cork Airport, Roy O’Driscoll added:
“The recovery and growth of passenger traffic at Cork Airport this year has been tremendously strong, buoyed by an extremely busy summer. With 2.1 million passengers expected to travel to and from Cork Airport in 2022, we are aiming to build on that growth by offering our biggest ever winter schedule to our loyal and valued passengers across Munster and the South of Ireland.”
“The addition of two new, exciting destinations - Rome and Newcastle - complements the schedule by offering extensive choice and variety to passengers seeking a city-break. I’m confident that the extension of several summer routes right through the winter will also prove popular with passengers when booking a getaway to warmer climates this winter. I would like to thank Minister Hildegarde Naughton for her presence here today, for launching our biggest ever winter schedule and for meeting with us to discuss our request for continued government Exchequer support for Cork Airport. I am grateful to her and her officials for their continued commitment and steadfast support of the growth and development of Cork Airport,” he added.
This winter, Ryanair – Europe’s Favourite Airline - will operate their largest ever winter schedule at Cork Airport, with 20 routes to choose from. Ryanair is launching two new routes with twice-weekly services to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport and Newcastle commencing at the end of October. In addition, Ryanair has also extended several summer routes into the winter including twice-weekly services to Valencia, Milan, Venice and Faro. The airline will also operate services to the ever-popular sun destinations of Alicante (twice weekly), Malaga (three times weekly), Lanzarote (three times weekly), Tenerife (twice weekly) and Gran Canaria (weekly). Ryanair connectivity to the UK will remain extremely strong over the course of the winter season, with daily services to London-Stansted, London-Gatwick, Edinburgh, and Manchester along with five-times weekly services to London-Luton, Liverpool and Birmingham.
Aer Lingus will operate a twice-weekly service to Lanzarote and will maintain essential connectivity to the major European hub airports of Amsterdam and London-Heathrow, with multiple daily services to Heathrow and a daily service to Amsterdam. In addition, Aer Lingus will also cater to passengers seeking a holiday on the ski slopes with services to Munich and Salzburg commencing in December.
Three European carriers will also operate scheduled services from Cork Airport this winter. KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines will operate a double-daily service to Amsterdam, providing access to the wider KLM global network and access to almost every major destination in the world. KLM currently serves 162 destinations worldwide, of which 70 are intercontinental and 92 European; Vueling, voted European Low-Cost Carrier of the Year 2021 will operate a twice-weekly service to Paris Orly, the closest airport to Paris city centre, while Swiss International Air Lines will operate a weekly service to Geneva.
Over the course of the winter season, passengers flying from Cork Airport can expect friendly service, stress-free travel, short security queues and convenient car parking.