They hardly want my sympathy but that is now the feeling I am arriving at in relation to Cork Airport. A frequency cut on a new route before it even starts with EI on MAN-ORK and as pointed out above no Fri/Sun flights! This is really the Pox of Cork Airport in full flight. What has got into EI to bring this on as it seems to me they are just not interested now on making a go of MAN-ORK and leaving Cork pax to the mercies of bmi baby and their crews in not conducting CATII approaches to Cork in low visibility operations. If for no other reason this is why bmi baby are in need of a good shake up on MAN-ORK. The EI planners have really messed this one up before it even starts.
Now, today we have more news that FR are adding in a fifth ORK-DUB flight! Looks like they are all out to get Aer Arann? Well, for Cork Airport's sake let us hope that FR do not succeed as it might turn out like easyJet all over again. They might wipe Aer Arann off the Dublin route and as soon as that happens would FR reduce flights or even try to quit like they did by at first reducing LGW flights and later trying if they could quietly drop LGW all together before the heat was turned on and this coming summer's LGW flight was restored.
Five return flights to Dublin! Gee, it just defies me that with all their hundreds of destinations Ryanair have this fixation on not offering any other choice from Cork. What are they on? They must be nuts? EMA, PIK, CRL, somewhere in Germany/Italy/France/Spain - there has got to be one destination that would be a winner without affecting the ever precious Shannon operation?
Cork needs EI or FR or some carrier to consider a 99 seater aircraft for operations if their courage fails them with the 174/189 seaters on potential new routes? Without knowing the detail JetBlue seem to have this done right with the ERJ 190 series aircraft?
Otherwise, we are left with the present madness and this cannot be allowed to continue because Cork Airport is being left further and further behind.
Did any of you hear Mr Joe Gantley, Chairman of the Cork Airport Authority on the RTE Radio 1 business show last Sunday morning at 10 am? The discussion was on business in general firstly but the host of the show then introduced the Flyglobespan Knock project and Mr Gantley was asked for his thoughts on a potential North Atlantic project from Cork. Without naming it he referred to the failed Slatterys project from autumn 2005 and how Cork people did not support the flights. There was little encouragement from Mr Gantley on the subject. It was a pity because he had a chance to suggest something like how a Cork route to America would be very likely a goer if an
airline with a leading brand took it up, eg, Continental, Aer Lingus, Delta etc.
Certainly, this afternoon in Cork there are plenty of Bus Eireann city busses covered in Continental Airlines' logos advertising the Shannon to Newark service.
What a mockery these bus ads make of Cork Airport! Is there anyone at Cork Airport that can react to this kind of open humiliation.
Is there anyone in charge at Cork Airport that has an ounce of pride in their job and in their airport or don't they care?
Last edited by Tom the Tenor; 8th Feb 2007 at 00:02.