Unlike Shannon and Dublin, Cork's traffic mix was very one sided even during the boom years. The growth was driven by young people heading off to stag and hen parties, Soccer supporters heading to support their favourite clubs in the U.K. , Sunseekers of all ages heading to warmer climates and others going on City breaks.
Many of these people now react with indifference when told of a new route or a seat sale.
Its inward tourism routes and business traffic played only a small part in it's remarkable period of growth during the 1995-2006 era and this continues to be the case.
I hope I'm wrong but we might have to wait for a new generation to grow up before Cork Airport returns to significant growth again. It's now agreed that the Shannon peak of 3.6m achieved in 2007 was an unsustainable figure. Can the same be said for the 3.25 m peak at Cork in 2008? Time will tell