Airport faces 'stark future' as Cork flights tumble by 26%

AIRLINE CUTS:FLIGHTS IN AND OUT of Cork Airport have fallen by 26 per cent so far this year, and Dublin and Shannon airports have also seen reductions, with drops of about 15 and 16 per cent.

The Irish Aviation Authority blamed the global downturn for the fall in commercial traffic, which includes both passenger and freight flights, over the first eight months of 2009 compared with the same period last year.

Cork seems the most seriously affected airport, with commercial traffic down almost 28 per cent last month compared with August 2008, according to figures released yesterday. Dublin and Shannon airports reported reductions of about 18 and 16 per cent. The drop at Cork included fewer flights to and from Dublin, down from 12 a day at the peak of the economic boom to seven a day.

The number of passengers using Cork Airport dropped by 16 per cent in the first eight months of 2009, to 2 million, from 2.3 million over the same period in 2008.

A spokesman for Cork Airport Authority said the reduction in flights did not translate to an equivalent reduction in passenger numbers because many of the cut flights involved smaller aircraft, such as those used by Aer Arann.

He said the immediate future for the airport was “still quite stark”. “There is no sign of economic recovery in the Republic of Ireland, and that is affecting leisure traffic in particular . . . In the short term, one would be still very conservative regarding what 2010 holds in store, but that is not stopping us chasing markets.” A possible “early green shoot” is the start, on December 18th, of a service to East Midlands Airport by the low-cost airline BMIBaby.