Aer Lingus Regional has began operating two new routes from Cork Airport with flights to Southampton and Leeds Bradford in the UK.
AER Lingus Regional this week began operating two new routes from Cork Airport with flights to Southampton and Leeds Bradford in the UK.
The first flights took off on Monday from Cork to Southampton and will operate up to five times weekly with fares from €29.99 each way.
The new service to Leeds Bradford began last Tuesday and will operate up to three times weekly with fares from €29.99 each way.
With the addition of these two new routes, the airline aims to carry an additional 60,000 passengers through Cork Airport in 2016 and will base a third aircraft at the airport, servicing the 10 Aer Lingus Regional routes from Cork.
In addition to the new routes to Southampton and Leeds Bradford, the airline has also increased frequency on its services to Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow from Cork; with up to nine additional flights per week across these three routes.
Niall MacCarthy of Cork Airport welcomed the commencement of the two new services. ‘We are delighted to continue our great relationship with Aer Lingus Regional and Stobart Air, who operate 10 routes from Cork Airport. There are already a number of key UK provincial routes for passengers from the region and the addition of the new services offers even greater choice and connectivity across the UK. There are now 14 UK destinations available from Cork Airport,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has welcome the news that air passengers at Cork Airport have increased by 8.7%.
‘It signals the increased contribution that the airport is making to the local economy. For every extra 1200 passengers an airport brings to a local area, 12 new direct jobs are created with a countless amount of indirect jobs.
‘Cork currently accounts for 17.5% of all overseas visitors who come to Ireland, and is second only to Dublin in terms of tourist bed nights. An average visitor to Cork spends €94.59 a day as well as the airport being a key part of the infrastructure which attracts businesses here,’ she said.