Cork Airport named best regional airport in Europe for third time
They may not have won the Euromillions, but Cork Airport is celebrating after being crowned best airport in Europe.
The airport's managing director Niall MacCarthy and his team scooped the top award for airports in Europe carrying less than five million passengers.
Cork previously won the prestigious Air Council International Best Airport in Europe Award in 2017 and 2019 and, according to the judges, won this year's award for its 'continued excellence' in passenger experience, operational efficiency, route development, sustainability and innovation.
Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe director general said Cork's success was well deserved as the airport team had 'worked tirelessly to enhance operational efficiency, offer exceptional passenger experience, and deliver on ambitious environmental and sustainability goals'.
READ MORE
'Their success is clearly reflected in increased air connectivity and passenger numbers which means a growing contribution from the airport to the regional economy, tourism and competitiveness,' said Mr Jankovec, noting Cork was Ireland's fastest growing airport with 14 per cent growth so far this year.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who recently renamed the main entrance to the airport, Rory Gallagher Avenue, in honour of the famous Cork guitarist, paid tribute to the team at the airport for growing passenger numbers from 3.1 million in 2024 to a projected 3.4 million this year.
'This is a prestigious honour for Cork Airport to once again be recognised as Europe's best regional airport. It is clear that Cork Airport is going from strength to strength every year, and this award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of Niall MacCarthy and all his team there.
'I know there are plans to further develop the airport and I look forward to seeing Cork Airport continue to flourish as Ireland's fastest growing airport,' said Mr Martin, who last month announced a €200 million investment by DAA in the Leeside airport.
The DAA investment is designed to cater for projected passenger growth to over five million in the next decade, and among the planned improvements was the construction of a new mezzanine floor over the existing arrivals area to accommodate a new, larger state-of-the-art passenger security area
The new security area, which is due to start construction this August and be commissioned by late December 2026, will incorporate the latest security technology, C3 EDS, which eliminates the need to remove liquids, gels, pastes and large electronic items from passengers' cabin luggage.
The €200 million investment will also facilitate the construction of an improved duty-free shop, 30 per cent larger than the current duty-free shop, with the expansion, which will be completed by August 2027, being accommodated in the existing passenger security screening area, he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
35 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
What should Cork's EuroMillions winner do with their money?
A massive €250 million was won last week, but with the money comes major pitfalls Today at 09:25 The talk of the town last weekend was the crowning of Ireland's largest ever EuroMillions jackpot winner, who scooped an enormous prize of €250 million. Questions still remain over the identity of the ticket holder, which was bought in Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street last week, with its manager, Simon Champ, telling the Irish Independent yesterday that it would be a ' waste of time' trawling through CCTV footage to figure out who won the enormous prize.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Trump administration not budging on 10 per cent tariff ‘baseline', Harris says
Accepting trade tariffs of 10 per cent on goods sold to the United States as the 'new baseline' would be a real challenge for Irish businesses, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris has said. Negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the US are continuing, to stave off the worst excesses of US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff agenda. Since the start of April nearly all goods sold into the US have been hit with a global 10 per cent tariff, which is effectively a tax paid to import goods. Mr Trump initially said trade coming from the EU would be subject to a higher 20 per cent rate, before more recently threatening tariffs of 50 per cent, if no deal was agreed before July 9th. READ MORE The US president has used the threats of steep import duties to leverage concessions from trading partners, with the UK Government among those who have signed up to new trade deals. EU negotiators had been hoping to strike a deal that would roll back the near-blanket tariffs. However, officials in Brussels have begun to accept any agreement will likely mean conceding to import duties of 10 per cent, in place since Mr Trump's 'liberation day' announcement. [ Resilient economy gives reason for optimism despite Central Bank's 'extreme' scenario Opens in new window ] Speaking on Monday., on his way in to a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Mr Harris said it seemed the position of the US administration was that tariffs of 10 per cent were 'the new baseline'. The Fine Gael leader said that would pose 'a real challenge' for some sectors of the Irish economy. US trade representative Jamieson Greer had outlined the Trump administration was open to carve outs for certain industries, where both the EU and US agreed to 'zero for zero' tariff rates, Mr Harris said. Bobby Healy on why Manna drone delivery could be the 'biggest technology company in the world for its space' Listen | 67:08 The EU previously pitched the idea of each side dropping pre-existing tariffs on industrial goods, such as cars, to zero. 'I think the European Commission and [EU trade commissioner] Maroš Šefčovič are quite right to be ambitious in terms of suggesting many sectors where we'd like to introduce zero for zero tariffs', Mr Harris said. The recent discussion between Mr Greer and Mr Harris also touched on the prospect of US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, which Mr Trump views as a way to pressure pharma firms to relocate manufacturing sites to the US. [ EU must keep 'nerves of steel' in talks with US on tariffs, Costa says Opens in new window ] Mr Harris said he felt there 'was a recognition that the EU and the US are much more interdependent on pharma, than perhaps had been alluded to in the early days of the rhetoric around trade'. Pharmaceuticals are one of the few industries Mr Trump has not levied tariffs on to date, however he continues to warn they are coming. Pharmaceutical products sold to the US account for a big portion of the Republic's total trade exports, due to the concentration of US firms, such as Pfizer, Eli Lilly, MSD and Johnson & Johnson, with manufacturing plants in Ireland. Mr Harris said he hoped the EU and US would find 'a constructive, creative way forward on pharma', that spared the industry from trade levies.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Revolut chief in line for Musk-style payday at $150bn valuation
Revolut's chief executive Nik Storonsky is in line for a multibillion-dollar windfall if he steers the fintech's valuation to about $150 billion (€131 billion), under a long-standing Elon Musk -style pay package. Mr Storonsky, who founded the $45 billion start-up in 2015, has an outsized incentive deal that would increase his stake in Revolut by several percentage points if the valuation more than triples from its current level, according to people familiar with the matter. The total amount of shares on offer could be worth as much as 10 per cent of the company if all the targets are hit, one of the people said. However, the package was structured such that it would pay out in stages when the valuation cleared set thresholds, the person said. READ MORE Some of the people likened Mr Storonsky's deal to the bumper pay deal that Musk negotiated with Tesla in 2018. That award, which was the largest in US history, has led to a years-long legal battle. Mr Storonsky's deal predates the company's blockbuster fundraising in 2021, in which an investment round led by SoftBank handed the company a valuation of $33 billion. [ Revolut eyes western European HQ in Paris and applies for a French banking licence Opens in new window ] The chief executive's direct and indirect holdings in Revolut shares topped 25 per cent in April this year after a reorganisation of its ownership structure, according to the company's latest annual report. Before that, no one had more than 25 per cent of the shares in issue, although Mr Storonsky was nonetheless deemed a person with significant control. The Revolut scheme underscores how investors seek to motivate top executives to reach ambitious growth targets. Bobby Healy on why Manna drone delivery could be the 'biggest technology company in the world for its space' Listen | 67:08 If Revolut reaches a $150 billion valuation, it would also deliver outsized returns for the company's early venture capital backers including Index Ventures and Balderton Capital. Mr Storonsky guided the company to its $45 billion valuation last year, when employees and early investors were allowed to cash in some of their shares. He sold hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of his own stock in the transaction, the Financial Times previously reported. The London-based start-up's profits more than doubled to £1 billion (€1.17 billion) last year as it surpassed 50 million customers, which boosted the fees it makes from card payments and the interest it earns on deposit. Revolut also benefited from a resurgence of crypto trading, which increased revenues nearly fourfold at its wealth business comprising stock and digital assets trading. Last year, the fintech received a banking licence in its home market after a years-long process. The award from the Bank of England represented a milestone for the company, with executives now hoping it will help it secure licences in other markets. The company has also begun to pay out cash bonuses to staff as part of an overhaul of its remuneration policy, a shift from a previous system that only granted bonuses in equity. The move comes ahead of a potential bumper initial public offering for Revolut. Revolut declined to comment. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
