In my own circle of friends and colleagues, the price gouging by Aer Lingus on the Cork routes coupled with the proximity of Dublin is making Cork very unappealing. More often than not, it's close to half the price to head to Dublin and take Lufthansa or BA to European destinations. Cork badly needs a non-EI connection to a major hub. I live less than 10 mins from Cork Airport, but for my last 10 trips to European destinations, it has been over 200 euros cheaper to head to Dublin, taking into account costs for petrol/parking etc. in Dublin. On a recent trip via LHR, EI were looking for 740 euros for the ORK/LHR leg, while I could drive to Dublin and get DUB/LHR for 180 euros with BA. Not even Ryanair go that far with gouging.