I'm not sure what the thinking was when the route was started. Was it so that they could have some routre anouncement for Cork and with no aircraft going there, it was the only alternative? Was it to hang on to slots at MAN?
As regards the service from Cork this winter. I'm sure some new routes will be anounced. I'd expect to see some of the capacity going to providing higher frequencies on existing routes. Amsterdam going double-daily every day and Paris going to 9 or 10 times a week are most likely. Cork-Amsterdam has provided good loads and yields throughout this winter. The route got a major boost with the problems at Heathrow last year. A lot of business inter-lining passengers switched to Amsterdam and then stayed using it.