Cork Airport expects 2.25 million passengers in 2016

Cork Airport expects 2.25 million passengers to travel through there this year, 8 per cent more than in 2015.

The airport said on Tuesday that it handled 207,701 passengers in May, 9.6 precent more than the 189,437 that used it during the same month last year.

Managing director, Niall MacCarthy, said that the numbers confirmed that so far this year the airport has had 65,000 more passengers than during the same period in 2015.

“Based on anticipated bookings and capacity looking ahead, we are forecasting total passenger numbers of 2.25 million people travelling through Cork Airport this year,” he said. “This will be an increase of 8 per cent over 2015 numbers.”

The airport is waiting to hear if the US authorities will give a permit to Norwegian Air International that will allow it to launch a service from there to Boston.

The airline, an Irish-based subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, had hoped to begin flying to Cork-to-Boston in April, but Washington has delayed in giving it the permit it needs to fly to the US.

It is likely to be several weeks before the US department of transportation makes a final decision.