Well, it looks like Cork Airport is getting out of jail this week with the modest but nonetheless significant announcements of increased flights from Liverpool, Wroclaw & Krakow and the new Warsaw flight from Central Wings that will provide some competition to the all ready established flights by Aer Lingus.
It is only right that the daily Liverpool flight is being restored by Ryanair. It was not too bright to have reduced the capacity in the first place and it would be good to hope that Kerry may be able to get something back from Ryanair in the shape of a summer service from Merseyside?
What about all the Cork flights to and from Poland come next summer? There is going to be a lot of supply and can a good enough yield be got for the competing airlines? Guess with the six weekly CSA flights from Prague gone it should be just a tad easier to fill up some of the availabe extra seats. Sure hope so! Looks like summer 2007 will be the year for Cork people to visit the fine sights in Warsaw and Krakow etc!
Cork could do with more apron space for stands more than it needs the old terminal. Do not forget the banishings to Shannon and Kerry over the last few years and the revenues lost which might have gone a long way towards a few airbridges or a bit of extra concrete for either the runway or a parallel taxiway? The old terminal must have an ongoing cost for it's care and maintenance and fair enough if it is being used to the optimum from the overall airport adminstration point of view but no later than a few days ago the top brass of the airport were engaged in meetings at the Great Southern Hotel rather than at the offices in the old terminal. What kind of signal does that gesture give for the future of the old terminal?
Let us not be overly sentimental about it, I say knock the old terminal for more ramp. If the airport gets the magic 3 million pax by year's end it will be a superb achievement. Worrying how the airport might handle 4 million pax or more in the future can be put off for at least a few years.
Forgot to mention that the Mrs and I came in a few days ago from STN and in the arrivals hall we noticed that there were some new (to Cork) baggage trolleys! The new ones have the advertising panels removed so it not clear if they came from DAA HQ in Dublin or from snn but how they stand out is that they have instructions on use as Gaeilge (in Irish) which the old Cork trolleys have never had to my knowledge. So it looks like the Hand Me Down trolleys have arrived!?
Also heard that Cork Airport's sole airbridge at Stand 9T could not be got to work last Sunday morning for the First Choice Airways Boeing 757 flight to the North Pole to visit Santa. The airbridge could move in and out fine but not left to right and after some time a software problem was diagnosed and eventually an air-stairs was found for use with the aeroplane the only problem being that the stairs was about 18 inches below the height of the 757 but at least the crew got aboard and eventually things got sorted and the flight left for Santa nearly an hour late. The topic was covered on Monday morning's Neil Prendeville show on local radio, 96FM! One lady passenger on the aircraft had been determined to bring the subject to air and she also made mention of the three beautiful buses provided for her and the other pax to use on the crowded ramp up at Katilla!
Fair play to that lady, I salute you, Madam!