Cork Airport has been named Best Airport in Europe in the under five million passengers category at the Airport Council International assembly in Cyprus.
The awards recognise excellence and achievement in a variety of airport disciplines, and this is the second time for Cork to take this title, having won it for the first time in 2017.
Managing director Niall MacCarthy said: ‘‘“Anyone who uses our airport at Cork knows we pride ourselves on the smoothness and friendliness of the passenger journey. This is all down to the staff, who work around the clock 365 days of the year, through good weather and bad, to make that journey friendly and easy. This year we are Ireland’s most punctual and fastest growing airport, with eight new routes and 10% passenger growth year to date.
Cork was up against a short list which included Torino Airport, Aberdeen International, Tallinn Airport, Limak Kosovo and London City Airport, all assessed by aviation experts and key stakeholders.
The judges gave Cork the golden gong on the back of its support to passengers with disabilities and its strong community engagement and safety and security indicators, including its drone awareness campaign. They also highlighted the airport’s €4m investment in food and beverage offerings, promoting local products; its recent route network expansion; and its status of the most punctual airport in Ireland last year.
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In its fourth consecutive year of growth, Cork Airport now has 50 direct routes to the UK and Continental Europe, along with daily long-haul connectivity through major European hub airports, and expects to handle more than 2.6 million passengers this year.
Air France Hop! launched a new daily service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle in May, and the airline plans to expand capacity on the route by a quarter from October. Ryanair introduced a new six times-weekly service to London Luton last October and in the same month Aer Lingus started a new twice weekly service to Lisbon.
Kevin Cullinane, Head of Communications, says that continental European traffic increased by 7% to almost 1.1 million in 2018 while UK traffic was flat during the year at 1.3 million passengers. In April Ryanair launched new year-round services to Budapest, Malta and Poznan, and there’s a new summer service to Naples in July. Aer Lingus launch summer services to Dubrovnik and Nice in May, while seven existing routes have seen capacity growth.
The additional traffic boosted Cork Airport’s commercial turnover by 8% last year, and visits to the executive lounge increased by 50%. “The new Aspire business lounge is performing exceptionally well,” says Cullinane. “An extensive range of hot and cold food, tailored to different parts of the day, along with drinks and newspapers are available. There is also a range of dedicated zones for business, dining and relaxing. Facilities include tableside charging for mobile devices.”
Photo: Niall MacCarthy (left) and Peter Hotham, SESAR Joint Undertaking.
