Cork Airport is preparing to welcome over 53,000 passengers this October Bank Holiday weekend, as thousands will arrive to celebrate the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Friday, October 27 is anticipated to be the busiest day and total passenger traffic this bank holiday weekend sees a 23% increase versus the same period last year. 

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is now in its 45^th year and Cork Airport is proud to be an official Festival Partner once again this year. Cork Airport is the international gateway to the festival and over the coming days, thousands will arrive from the UK and Continental Europe in advance of the one of the biggest weekends on the Cork cultural calendar. Arriving passengers will get a flavour of “the Jazz” as soon as they land at Cork Airport, with performances from The Jazz Bandits, the Lamarotte Jazz Band and the Blarney Brass & Reed Band all taking place in the terminal over the course of the weekend. 

This weekend also marks the start of the winter schedule at Cork Airport. Between now and late March 2024, over 1.25 million seats are on sale to destinations across the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, and The Netherlands. This bank holiday weekend, new Ryanair services to Barcelona El-Prat and Paris Beauvais will commence, with services to Seville and Fuerteventura commencing in the first week of November. A new twice-weekly Aer Lingus service to Tenerife will also commence next week, with a new weekly service to Lyon commencing in December. 

Commenting on the October Bank Holiday passenger traffic, Managing Director at Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy said: “Air travel shouldn’t be stressful and worrisome. Our team at Cork Airport works very hard to make travel hassle-free and to bring fun and excitement back into flying. Expect plenty of music and fun this weekend and even more in the run up to Christmas. That’s why more and more people from a wider catchment are choosing to “fly Cork.” Once you try it, we know you will be back.”

Passengers travelling this weekend are advised to arrive at Cork Airport 90 minutes before their flight is due to depart. For passengers flying on Sunday next, Cork Airport advises passengers to be mindful of clock changes as daylight saving time draws to a close and the clocks go back an hour.