Originally Posted by racedo
Idea that bosses come down from Dublin and said we will build you a new terminal and spend hundreds of millions, there is no real plan and you don't have to do anything. Cork bosses never said anything about the runway needing an extension for T/A flights..................
Dublin Inept meet Cork Inept.
In fairness, you aren't really taking the political agenda into account. It is crucial to understanding the matter.
Shannon has the only 3000+ metre runway in the country. At this stage, it's Shannon's only unique advantage. The special tax regime had to go because of EU rules, ditto the Stopover because of changes in the international landscape. In the past, limiting the length of Dublin's runway was a political issue - the Shannon lobby were that blunt in pursuing their interests. That's why Dublin's current runway is just that little bit too short.
Now, in that political climate of Dublin vs Shannon, Cork Airport has been a third fiddle. I'm not sure the Cork lobby even knows who to target. But what would be clear is that the prospect of Cork doing T/A would undermine Shannon, in a context where IWAK has also dabbled in T/A. There's also issue around the physical limits of the Cork site, even if you wanted to extend the runway.
But the main point is that, politically, approving a substantial upgrade to Cork's runway to better enable T/A flights would be a non-runner, because of what it would do to Shannon. So, politically, the deal was quite likely "You can have a Taj Mahal terminal building, and every possible bit and bob in supporting infrastructure. But, you'll understand, there's no change on the runway."