Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has welcomed the expanded services at Cork Airport announced today by Aer Lingus Regional, including a new flight from Newcastle.
The new route to Newcastle and enhanced services on existing routes are the latest response to the suspension of the Air Travel Tax in Budget 2014, and will boost seat capacity at Cork by 25 per cent next summer.
"I'm delighted that the airlines are responding in such a positive way to the Government's suspension of the Air Travel Tax from next April. The new route and the extra capacity on existing routes into Cork is a significant boost for tourism and businesses," Minister Varadkar said.
"If we want to bring extra tourists, we need to offer the seats. This strategy worked in 2013 when the combination of The Gathering and extra seats helped to boost visitors from North America by almost 20% between June and August.
"I also welcome the decision by Aer Lingus Regional to base two new aircraft at Cork Airport. This is a positive sign of the airline's commitment to the region and its plan to grow passenger numbers to over 300,000 by the end of 2014."
This announcement by Aer Lingus Regional follows similar positive announcements by the airline at Shannon and Dublin.
New routes/enhanced services announced by airlines since Budget 2014:
Aer Lingus RegionalDublin airport:- 1 new route - Newcastle; Increased capacity - Aberdeen, Bristol, Cardiff Glasgow;Shannon airport:- 1 new route- Bristol; Increased capacity - Manchester, Birmingham;Cork airport:- 1 New Route - Newcastle ; Increased capacity- Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow
RyanairDublin airport:- 9 new routes - Almeria, Bari, Basel, Bucharest, Chania, Comiso, Marakech, Prague and Lisbon; Increased capacity - Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow (PIK), London(STN), Madrid, Manchester and Nice;Shannon Airport:-8 new routes - Berlin, Faro, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Munich, Nice, Paris Warsaw; Increased capacity - London (STN) Ireland West Airport Knock:-3 new routes:- Eindhoven, Glasgow, Kaunas; Increased capacity – London (Luton), London (STN)
WestJetDublin airport:- 1 new route – Newfoundland
