Much food for thought there Neidin. Certainly, high praise indeed is very much due to John Smyth at Cork for so many successes. A safe pair of hands there. Yes, the place is a mess at the moment but the new chairman and board at Cork have a unique chance now to better things. Let us hope this opportunity is seized well - now is not the time for poor decision making.
The infrastructural priorities for Cork are simple. Firstly, successful completion of the new terminal including airbridges; secondly, more ramp space needed, either between runway 25 and the flying club area or the less attractive option of closing runways 25/07; and thirdly, a modest increase to runways 17/35 of approximately 200 metres to make long haul (!) flights to America and elsewhere unquestionably viable technically. Including the provision of CATIII ILS to runway 17 here.
As for the airlines and holding onto present traffic and attracting new business the first lesson for Cork and any other airport set on doing business and making money is to stay away from what must now be accepted as Shannon's suicide deal with Ryanair.
This being so the markets kind of decide things. All Irish markets even including Dublin in some routes are thin and will remain so; but these thinner routes are going to be the next big thing. For example you have JetBlue buying loads of ERJ 190s and asking Embraer for longer range. This also coincides with recent deliveries of JetBlue A320s having an extra centreline fuel tank also for better range. COPA Panama have ordered ERJ 190s to improve services on thin routes around Central America and Westjet of Canada are the launch customer for their 737-600s to be equipped with winglets for their long thin routes between Montreal and Vancouver etc. The right machinery is coming on line so it is inevitable thinner and longer routes will come into their own as time moves on. Ireland is an ideal candidate for these kinds of routes. It will be all to play for the likes of Cork, Kerry, Knock, Waterford, Galway and Dublin. Shannon will, no doubt, also be playing hard for similar business but the competition will be fierce.