Originally Posted by
N by NW
Airbridges and covered walkways are not going to be installed in the forseeable future. In any case, as the airport has been in operation for over forty years and this year will see a record number of passengers using the facility, it is hard to see how the absence of airbridges has affected its performance.
A number of airports are abandoning the use of airbridges to cater for the LoCo airlines e.g. Pier A at Dublin where FR and increasingly EI base their operations and Pier H at AMS. In most cases the walk from the terminal to the plane is the same distance as that in ORK.
N by N - I have said it before and I will say it again - I don't neccessairly need airbridges to get onto the plane, but at the very least I expect to be able to board a flight DRY. We have this spanking new facility and it has done absolutely nothing to address passengers pricipal complaint, namely that of boarding a flight without getting drenched (and it seems to rain alot at Cork).
Secondly, I regularly walk to distant stands (esp for the AerArann flights to Dublin) and whilst I don't object to walking, I do object to a lenghty walk in the wind and rain with absolutley no protection from the elements (and many pax at ORK are travelling onwards so have no change of clothes for the duration of their journey). So while the CAA will argue it is the airlines responsibility and the airlines say it is the CAA responsibilty, the pax continue to pay airport charges, fees, exorbitant parking charges, overpriced food....and still get pissed on!