Pictured at the launch are Ryanair crew members Teegan Louther and Sam Barrett with Eddie Wilson, CEO, Ryanair and Niall MacCarthy, MD, Cork Airport. Also inclued are Tara Finn, Head of Aviation Business Development, Cork Airport and Roy O’Driscoll, Deputy MD, Cork Airport. Photo: Brian Lougheed

Ryanair set for largest ever summer schedule from Cork Airport

Cork Airport is set to to offer an expanded summer schedule after Ryanair announced that it will be operating five new routes.

The new routes are to Seville in Spain, La Rochelle in France, East Midlands in the UK and Venice Treviso and Rome Fiumicino in Italy.

Next year, Cork Airport expects to welcome over 2.4 million passengers in total as it recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ryanair will operate 270 flights each week between March and October 2023 and the announcement means that Munster passengers have a superb range of destinations to choose from across the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands direct from Cork Airport.

Seville, the capital city of the sunny Andalusia region of Spain and La Rochelle, a lovely French city on the Atlantic coast are lovely coastal options while Rome and Venice are incredible, hostoric Italian gems.

The new service to East Midlands will provide direct air access to the cities of Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham.

The new routes will also bolster inbound tourism across Cork.

Along with the new routes announced today, Ryanair has announced increased frequencies on its popular sun services to Faro, Malaga, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca, Lanzarote, and Barcelona Reus.

Managing Director at Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy said: “I am thrilled to announce Ryanair’s biggest ever summer schedule, in this their 35th year operating at Cork Airport. With over 1.4 million seats on sale next summer, ranging from vibrant city destinations like Rome, Valencia, Venice, Bordeaux, Milan, Edinburgh, London, and Liverpool to exciting sun destinations such as Faro, Malaga, Lanzarote, Sardinia, Alicante and many more, there is a superb route offering from Cork Airport with Ryanair.”

“For passengers across Munster and the south of Ireland, Cork Airport offers the best choice of destinations next summer,” he added.

Speaking at the launch of the Ryanair 2023 Summer Schedule, CEO at Ryanair DAC, Eddie Wilson said: “As Europe and Ireland’s most reliable airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce even more growth for the south-west with our biggest ever Cork schedule, offering 270 weekly flights (20% more than summer 2022) across 29 routes, including our exciting new La Rochelle, Rome, Seville, Venice Treviso, and East Midlands routes for summer 2023.

“Underpinned by our $300m investment in Cork Airport, this record schedule offers a huge selection of sunny hotspots and city break destinations, as well as increased frequencies across popular routes like Alicante, Faro, Liverpool, and Palma. Ryanair’s commitment to growing traffic and increasing connectivity to Cork means it will become the first Irish state airport to fully restore pre-pandemic traffic levels.

“The further 20% growth Ryanair will deliver to Cork next summer is fantastic news for Ryanair customers in the south-west and is a direct result of Cork’s long-term commitment to maintain competitive airport charges, which provide the cost certainty required for Ryanair to invest and grow in the region and continue to drive economic growth, jobs, and much-needed inbound tourism.”