CityJet is to cease its Cork to London City Airport service from June 26, claiming that the route was not a profitable one. The service was only introduced in October 2015.

The airline said that its summer services to Nantes and La Rochelle from Cork Airport will operate as scheduled. It is also operating a charter to Menorca for Stein Travel and Lee Travel, which is not affected by decision to park the London City Airport route.

Niall MacCarthy, MD at Cork Airport, said that CityJet’s decision was very disappointing, as the airline havd invested significantly to develop the market over the past eight months.

“Quite simply, not enough people were using the service, despite intensive and exhaustive marketing campaigns,” MacCarthy added.

Ongoing Losses

“The nature of the aviation industry is that aircraft are mobile assets and airlines make decisions based on economics. In this instance, it simply did not make sense for CityJet to continue this route as it was incurring ongoing losses.”

In Association with

MacCarthy said that the London market continued to be well served from Cork Airport despite CityJet’s decision, with 56 flights each week to Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow.

He continued: “Cork Airport is still in a period of significant growth and we are expecting to see our passenger numbers increase by 7% to 8% this year.”

Separately, Cork Chamber expressed its disappointment with the CityJet route cancellation.

According to Barrie O’Connell, president of Cork Chamber: “Every effort was made by all stakeholders involved to ensure this route would be a success, but unfortunately the take-up by passengers, leisure and business, inbound and outbound, was less that had been forecast.”

He added: “The announcement by CityJet today is a timely reminder for business and leisure users in the region that where a new route is added from Cork Airport, proactive support is necessary to use the route and ensure the route is sustainable over time.

Ryanair Swoops

In response to the CityJet news, Ryanair today launched a €16.99 seat sale on its flights from Cork to London Gatwick and London Stansted. The seat sale fares are available for travel in June, but must be booked on the Ryanair website by May 15.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said: “We’ve launched these €16.99 fares for customers and visitors from Cork and the Munster region who have had their travel plans disrupted by the sudden cancellation of CityJet’s flights between Cork and London."