Cork Airport in direct competition with Shannon as new passengers on radar
Attracting passenger traffic from outside the county is crucial to the future of Cork Airport to reach ambitious plans to reach 5m passengers, with Ireland's southern air gateway now in direct competition with Shannon for business, managing director Niall MacCarthy said.
The airport attracted 3.1m passengers in 2024 and is predicting growth to 3.4m passengers this year, with plans to grow to 5m. Cork Airport is now pushing beyond its traditional customer base, Mr MacCarthy said, with high volumes coming from Kerry, Waterford, and south Tipperary crucial revenue streams. 'Cork could not support an airport on its own. If we were just a one-county airport, we'll forever be small,' Mr MacCarthy said.
'We need traffic all the way up to south Kilkenny and Wexford to be able to go to airlines and say there's a viable hinterland here.'
Shannon Airport attracted 2.1m passengers in 2024, its highest number of passengers in 15 years and a 7% increase on 2023. Shannon Airport Group invested €8m in the mid-west airport in 2024, and has announced plans for a further €30m investment, including a €3m solar PV farm, a €2.5m building thermal wrap, extended boarding gates, upgraded immigration and baggage hauls and 1,000 new car park spaces.
Earlier this month, the €200m Cork Airport Development Plan was unveiled, with a new terminal mezzanine floor; new security screening, boarding gates, executive lounges; airbridges, duty-free shop, and a 1.7Mw solar farm. The old terminal and control tower buildings will be replaced with a new pier and additional aircraft parking stands.
KSG's Cillian Cashman, Liam Noone, and Monique Egan with DAA chie executive Kenny Jacobs, Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy, and deputy managing director Roy O'Driscoll at the official reopening of the Craft restaurant and bar at Cork Airport.
Mr MacCarthy said the two regional airports are now vying for the same traffic.
'Cork is now by far the State's second biggest airport, and we're Munster's biggest. Our hinterland overlaps, so there's a lot of competition in the airport business,' said Mr MacCarthy.
'For inbound and outbound, if you live in Kerry, you can fly from Kerry Airport to Spain or to the UK, you can fly from Cork, Shannon, or Dublin. If you were in north Tipperary, you probably five options, with Knock as well. So absolutely, we are in competition with Shannon. Competition is healthy because it keeps everyone on their game. If we didn't offer a friendly service with a clean terminal with short wait times and relatively cheap parking, we'd be out of business."
Cork Airport management have made a submission to government to safeguard land for a Luas spur going from the city to the airport. In the meantime, Mr MacCarthy said that for Cork Airport to attract the passengers from the regions, better connectivity is crucial. 'We'd love a Killarney bus service to be stopping off at Cork Airport. We'd love a Kilkenny service stopping off, and a Waterford service,' he said.
DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs noted Dublin is connected to every single county in the country while Cork Airport has just three bus routes. 'We need more bus routes, and even the bus that comes from Kinsale is full by the time it's a few stops away. So definitely, we need more bus connectivity while we're waiting for the Luas.'
This week, the newly refurbished Craft airside bar and restaurant was officially opened at Cork Airport by Mr Jacobs, Mr MacCarthy, and KSG chief executive, Michael Gleeson, with seating extended and a more extensive menu with a focus on local produce.
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