There are some great value rates available.
I just did a quick survey right now on the London Stanstead to Cork Airport Route: There are flights available for travel in March (even for St. Patrick’s day) for less than stg £50 return including all taxes.

If you have any plans to come to Ireland this Spring, I’d get booking my flights today!

Traffic between Cork and London grew by 4% to 927 thousand with traffic to and from provincial UK airports growing 26% to 669,000.
Continental European passenger numbers were static versus 2007 at 869,000 while domestic traffic within Ireland suffered a 10% decline to 443,00 passengers during the year.

According to the newspaper report, comments by minister for transport, Noel Dempsey, yesterday gave a clear indication of the intention to keep Cork and Shannon Airports under the authority of Dublin.

As often speculated at the time, it now appears that the State Airports Act 2004, was nothing more than a name change from Aer Rianta to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). If this story turns out to be true, surely a further name change is required? It would seem a ridiculous situation to have the other two airports as part of a DUBLIN airport authority in the longer term??? 

Read the full Irsh Times article at:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1117/1226700658702.html

At myguideIreland we are huge fans of Cork Airport and often receive reviews from travellers highlighting the ease of transit and the quality of the experience at Cork Airport.

We welcome the appointment of Gerry Walsh and wish hime every success in steering the airport to even greater success in the coming years.

This follows the announcement by Ryanair last week that it was cutting two routes out of Cork Airport including the Galsgow route.

Aer Arann, who also fly to Edinburgh from Cork, confirmed this morning that they will begin flying from Cork to Glasgow’s Prestwick airport from October 28. This ensures there is no break in service for travelers between the two airports and is great news for me  (and for other people working for companies with offices in both Cork and Glasgow.)

This is a blow to toursim in the southwest of Ireland, a region that has also seen UK visitor numbers affected by the closure of the Swansea-Cork ferry 2 years ago.

The routes to close are from East-Midlands and Glasgow-Prestwick, which will close on October 26th and 28th respectively.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said they had made the decision due to an increase in the charges being imposed by the airport on those routes from 1 November however Cork Airport management have rejected this claim stating that they have not raised charges.

Mr O’Leary claimed that he felt a deal was possible in recent negotiations but that the Airport’s parent company the Dublin Airport Authority(DAA) were blocking the move. He said that the situation could be rescued if the DAA “changed its mind” but as of now the two routes will finish in October.

This statement is sure to bring further pressure on government to complete the process of making Cork an independent airport from Dublin. This was promised with the breakup of Aer-Rianta in 2004, however as yet the process has been no more than a name change from Aer Rinata to the DAA.

As someone who works for an Irish company that has offices in both Cork and Glasgow, I really hope they sort this mess out!

In a deal between Aer Arann and Aer Lingus, passengers will now be able to book flights from USA airports to Cork with a stopover in Dublin. Checked luggage will be transferred automatically to the connecting flight and boarding passes will be issued for the Dublin-Cork leg in the USA.

This deal will benefit both inbound and outbound travel through Cork Airport as Irish passengers will be also be able to book flights from Cork to eg JFK via Dublin in one transaction.

Managing director of Aer Arann, Garry Cullen, issued a statement stating “The ability to through check luggage all the way to your final destination from Cork, and transfer seamlessly to Aer Lingus’ USA services in Dublin will be of great benefit to Aer Arann and Aer Lingus customers. The partnership with Aer Lingus will benefit Munster by making the region more accessible to the USA inbound tourist and USA corporate travel markets.”

The streamlined booking process allows customers to book flights both to and from Cork direct to seven destinations in the USA in one single booking transaction and opens up Cork as a final destination for US Guests wishing to travel to Ireland.

Commenting on the news, Kevin Cullinane, Marketing Manager Cork Airport said, “We are delighted to welcome the addition of Geneva with Aer Lingus to the growing number of destinations served from Cork Airport. As Munster’s principal international gateway to the South of Ireland, Cork Airport continues to expand its network of destinations and growth into Europe which, in recent years has been led by Aer Lingus.”

This is a further vote of confidnece in Cork Airport by Aer Lingus. The airline employs in excess of 270 staff at Cork and in addition to these expanding passenger services Aer Lingus also provides Cargo services from Cork to London, Birmingham and a further 8 European destinations