CORK
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Has anyone read the Irish Indo today. Looks like previous reports into the shambles which is the new terminal have now become public. The report goes on to say that the airport users have cited a number of problems and folks i hate to report but there are major problems, floor space is at a minimum, desks are bunched together. Both pax and staff using the airport are in for a hugh disappointment ... will post again with any further news !! what a shambles
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Here is the Press Report EICK320 is referring to. (from the Irish Independent...free online but you need to register).
New terminal hits turbulence
THE controversial 150m new terminal at Cork Airport has been slated by airport operators as not user-friendly and posing potentially serious operational issues, six months before it is to open.
The revelation came in a letter, which was seen by the Irish Independent and written by the Airport Operators Committee (AOC) representing airlines and airport services personnel, in which serious questions were raised about facilities at the terminal.
In the hard-hitting letter to Cork Airport manager, Pat Keohane, the AOC warned it had serious problems with the new facilities. In some ways the old terminal was better, it added. The letter warned that facilities and space for key airport operations such as check-in and lost baggage are "totally inadequate".
Among those who toured the unfinished terminal were officials from Aer Lingus, Aer Arann, ServisAir as well as the Cork and Dublin Airport authorities.
Last night, a Cork Airport spokesperson warned that it would be misleading to quote the AOC letter out of context.
"There have been negotiations on these issues for a lengthy period of time and every effort is being made to address all concerns and needs as regards the new terminal."
She stressed the terminal will open as planned in late April/early May. It is already the focus of a bitter row between the Cork and Dublin Airport authorities over who assumes the majority of debt incurred in its construction.
Cork's Lord Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Clune (FG), has accused the Government of reneging on promises over the terminal. Cork's new airport board is adamant it was promised debt-free operations when independent of Aer Rianta/DAA.
The AOC letter complained that:
Space for queuing in the old terminal is better than in the new terminal.
Space for ticket and check-in staff is totally inadequate.
Self-service kiosks are located in the wrong area.
Only three passenger screening/X-ray arches are planned, totally inadequate for current passenger throughput.
Provision of only one air-bridge is a flagrant disregard for demands for better passenger embarkation facilities.
Despite the lack of air-bridges, passengers will not even have covered walkways for getting to and from aircraft.
"The distance in length between check-in and the ticket desks is considerably less than the maximum distance in our present terminal - and the nature of queues in the new terminal is linear and reduced space does not lend itself to queue management," the AOC complained.
It warned that, despite increased security precautions, only three X-ray screening arches have been indicated.
"When questioned on the amount of screening arches and x-ray machines to be installed the figure three was mentioned but not confirmed. It is imperative that a definite decision is made immediately on the actual number of units being made available as three is totally inadequate", the AOC warned.
The airport operators queried the efficiency of allowing a ratio of just six boarding gates to service 16 aircraft parking stands.
The AOC admitted it also had major concerns as to the overall operational efficiency of the new terminal.
The terminal was aesthetically impressive but "does not reflect the ambitions and ideas of the AOC at the initial consultative process stage".
It was not user-friendly for passengers or for staff.
"While aesthetically the terminal is visually impressive, it does not reflect the ambitions and ideas of the AOC at the initial consultative process stage and appears to be un-user friendly for passengers to travel through and staff to work in," they complained.
New terminal hits turbulence
THE controversial 150m new terminal at Cork Airport has been slated by airport operators as not user-friendly and posing potentially serious operational issues, six months before it is to open.
The revelation came in a letter, which was seen by the Irish Independent and written by the Airport Operators Committee (AOC) representing airlines and airport services personnel, in which serious questions were raised about facilities at the terminal.
In the hard-hitting letter to Cork Airport manager, Pat Keohane, the AOC warned it had serious problems with the new facilities. In some ways the old terminal was better, it added. The letter warned that facilities and space for key airport operations such as check-in and lost baggage are "totally inadequate".
Among those who toured the unfinished terminal were officials from Aer Lingus, Aer Arann, ServisAir as well as the Cork and Dublin Airport authorities.
Last night, a Cork Airport spokesperson warned that it would be misleading to quote the AOC letter out of context.
"There have been negotiations on these issues for a lengthy period of time and every effort is being made to address all concerns and needs as regards the new terminal."
She stressed the terminal will open as planned in late April/early May. It is already the focus of a bitter row between the Cork and Dublin Airport authorities over who assumes the majority of debt incurred in its construction.
Cork's Lord Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Clune (FG), has accused the Government of reneging on promises over the terminal. Cork's new airport board is adamant it was promised debt-free operations when independent of Aer Rianta/DAA.
The AOC letter complained that:
Space for queuing in the old terminal is better than in the new terminal.
Space for ticket and check-in staff is totally inadequate.
Self-service kiosks are located in the wrong area.
Only three passenger screening/X-ray arches are planned, totally inadequate for current passenger throughput.
Provision of only one air-bridge is a flagrant disregard for demands for better passenger embarkation facilities.
Despite the lack of air-bridges, passengers will not even have covered walkways for getting to and from aircraft.
"The distance in length between check-in and the ticket desks is considerably less than the maximum distance in our present terminal - and the nature of queues in the new terminal is linear and reduced space does not lend itself to queue management," the AOC complained.
It warned that, despite increased security precautions, only three X-ray screening arches have been indicated.
"When questioned on the amount of screening arches and x-ray machines to be installed the figure three was mentioned but not confirmed. It is imperative that a definite decision is made immediately on the actual number of units being made available as three is totally inadequate", the AOC warned.
The airport operators queried the efficiency of allowing a ratio of just six boarding gates to service 16 aircraft parking stands.
The AOC admitted it also had major concerns as to the overall operational efficiency of the new terminal.
The terminal was aesthetically impressive but "does not reflect the ambitions and ideas of the AOC at the initial consultative process stage".
It was not user-friendly for passengers or for staff.
"While aesthetically the terminal is visually impressive, it does not reflect the ambitions and ideas of the AOC at the initial consultative process stage and appears to be un-user friendly for passengers to travel through and staff to work in," they complained.
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Wait till the news breaks on the budget overruns, unions refusing to move on health and safety grounds to a new terminal, massive investment required in the Fire Service and the forthcoming dependence on Ryanair.
Cork Airport Board have only themselves to blame for this shambles of a terminal. But as the Chairman has fired most of the previous staff who built the traffic at a blistering pace - he will now be able to use them as scapegoats when the new terminal does not work. Don't blame Dublin, Shannon or politicians - blame Cork. Take it on the chin like men.
Bye bye Easyjet 06, Bye Bye BmiBaby 07, Hello Ryanair and massive Cork losses and or an empty New Terminal. Things are going to get very tough in Knock and Cork in '07.
SNN has the US war money and Kerry has the real low cost base so they will not suffer as much.
Cork Airport Board have only themselves to blame for this shambles of a terminal. But as the Chairman has fired most of the previous staff who built the traffic at a blistering pace - he will now be able to use them as scapegoats when the new terminal does not work. Don't blame Dublin, Shannon or politicians - blame Cork. Take it on the chin like men.
Bye bye Easyjet 06, Bye Bye BmiBaby 07, Hello Ryanair and massive Cork losses and or an empty New Terminal. Things are going to get very tough in Knock and Cork in '07.
SNN has the US war money and Kerry has the real low cost base so they will not suffer as much.
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joke of europe
Have heard it all now,
Yes folks you heard it here first in our newly built 160 million airport terminal i have heard the rumour that our friends CAA are resorting to installing dare i say it '' PORTACABINS ''. Space is at such a premium in our new building that Portacabins are the so called answer, not only are we the joke of Europe with our 1 and only airbridge we will now be working in a Portacabin park ......
I await your views !!!!
Yes folks you heard it here first in our newly built 160 million airport terminal i have heard the rumour that our friends CAA are resorting to installing dare i say it '' PORTACABINS ''. Space is at such a premium in our new building that Portacabins are the so called answer, not only are we the joke of Europe with our 1 and only airbridge we will now be working in a Portacabin park ......
I await your views !!!!
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The letter warned that facilities and space for key airport operations such as check-in and lost baggage are "totally inadequate".
"While aesthetically the terminal is visually impressive, it does not reflect the ambitions and ideas of the AOC at the initial consultative process stage and appears to be un-user friendly for passengers to travel through and staff to work in,"
Oh dear. It must have been designed by the same group of
that supposedly designed the 6 bay facility at Dublin.If one thing has become only too clear over the last while, it's that the DAA, and it's predecessors, have spent so much time and effort on making DUB Ireland's largest and most successful pub, they've forgotten that the majority of it's customers also want to get to somewhere else. That's resulted in the rest of the "facitilities" being so hopelessly overcrowded, under resourced and badly designed it's no longer funny, and the sad thing is that it's only going to get far worse before it gets better.
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Its one thing for CAA to get stuck with an expensive terminal, designed for the EI of old, but its quite another to expct us to have to pay for it as well! No wonder MOL dosent want these idiots building Pier D! It might JUST be accecptable if we didnt have to pay for the terminal. To be honest unless it is exteneded, or the old one is in some way incorporated into it we will have a very Irish scenario altogether.
Bottom line.. the DAA HAVE to pay for the mess of THEIR making, dunno what all the fus is about, they were gonna have o pay for it anyway.
Any news on more new scheduled routes for the summer? Has the (unlikely) BA connect base fallen off the map?
Bottom line.. the DAA HAVE to pay for the mess of THEIR making, dunno what all the fus is about, they were gonna have o pay for it anyway.
Any news on more new scheduled routes for the summer? Has the (unlikely) BA connect base fallen off the map?
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There has been yet more commentary in the newspapers over the last few days on the failings of Cork Airport's new terminal. Last Friday's Irish Examiner ran a story similar to the Irish Independent one of the previous day along with a letter to the editor from local councillor, Tom O'Driscoll and yesterday's Sunday Independent had a letter to the editor from a Ms June Scannell, a lady with disability, describing her experiences being lifted off a remotely parked aeroplane in the dead of night and of how that made her feel and that was before the long journey back to the terminal, a journey with no covered walkway and that if the situation does not improve at Cork Airport she will have think about using Dublin or Shannon airports instead. She remarked that the new terminal will probably be fitted out with the best of VIP areas but yet no covered walkways! The Sunday Indo' deemed Ms Scannell's letter to be letter of the week and she won three bottles of whiskey for her contribution so fair play!
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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that it's not as simple as just reopening the old terminal for LoCos. When the new one was built, a full envrionmental impact assessment was avoided because the old terminal was closing. Reopening the old terminal would involve a lengthy planning process. Although I suppose it could be argued that is all the more reason to start looking at it now.
The check-in desks situation in the new terminal doesn't worry me unduly. My experience has been that the only flights that experience unacceptable queues for check-in are charter flights where everyone is checking in loads of baggage. The security gates situation is more worrying. At busy times, we already see three gates in operation. I fear what the queue to get through security will look like between 6am and 7:30am in Summer.
The check-in desks situation in the new terminal doesn't worry me unduly. My experience has been that the only flights that experience unacceptable queues for check-in are charter flights where everyone is checking in loads of baggage. The security gates situation is more worrying. At busy times, we already see three gates in operation. I fear what the queue to get through security will look like between 6am and 7:30am in Summer.
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hi all, well i too must register the utter disbelief at the prospect of portocabins in the new terminal.. what a joke really... on the issue of the check in desks it is so so annoying but with the whole issue in my mind yesterday as i was in cdg i started to look around and in terminal 2 in cdg they use the snake system with the barriers with the pull out tape in them and it works quiet well. as the actual check in area is not that wide even though the building is huge in its self. so maybe its not all that bad on that score...
on the same topic i recieved a letter from my local finnia fail td the other day in responce to my consern over who will pay for the terminal. before you read it below just remember that that was the principal issue in my letter...
"thank you for your correspondence expressing your grave consern for the future of cork airport, which i believe is totally unfounded.
the ff govt of the time presided over the opening of cork airport and the further investments on cork airport such as the extended runways, upgraded radar equipment, other infrastructural developments and now the new terminal have all occurred during periods of ff administration.
as you are aware the passenger numbers passing through cork airport have reached record levels and projections for the future are for continuing increases.
the govt policies are to strengthen and consolidate the airport and i am confident that these will be sucessful.
i will pass on your conserns to minister cullen
yours etc..
michael ahern td.
well there you have it not one word on the funding issue for the terminal???? which ill say again was the principal issue on my letter to him.... these guys aare not with the picture at all
regs
ej
on the same topic i recieved a letter from my local finnia fail td the other day in responce to my consern over who will pay for the terminal. before you read it below just remember that that was the principal issue in my letter...
"thank you for your correspondence expressing your grave consern for the future of cork airport, which i believe is totally unfounded.
the ff govt of the time presided over the opening of cork airport and the further investments on cork airport such as the extended runways, upgraded radar equipment, other infrastructural developments and now the new terminal have all occurred during periods of ff administration.
as you are aware the passenger numbers passing through cork airport have reached record levels and projections for the future are for continuing increases.
the govt policies are to strengthen and consolidate the airport and i am confident that these will be sucessful.
i will pass on your conserns to minister cullen
yours etc..
michael ahern td.
well there you have it not one word on the funding issue for the terminal???? which ill say again was the principal issue on my letter to him.... these guys aare not with the picture at all
regs
ej
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Most TDs along with many of the managers at Cork Airport would be lucky to know where the doors are on an airliner never mind anything else about the aviation business so you cannot expect very much in reply. Remeber, those kinds of replies are spun out by spindoctors and handlers. I would hazard that the spindoctors and PR crisis management teams are busy in Cork area these days.
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ok runway length at cork is fine for a 330 to east coast USA,was in dub the other day and the shamrock 109 to JFK,an A330-200 took off on runway 16,some 200-300 feet shorter than cork,the problems are elsewhere,parallel taxi way would be a welcome addition for runway 35.
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Was wondering if that ei109 jfk bound was direct or was it transit flt via snn. If it was going via snn it wouldn't have its final fuel load , they normally uplift at snn.
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EI109 goes direct from Dublin to New York.
AFAIK it is already known that Cork-US East Coast is not a problem in an A330-200. However, Aer Lingus do not have enough aircraft to operate the route along with their current schedule. Finding an available A330 elsewhere would be next to impossible. That's before the economics of the route come into it.
AFAIK it is already known that Cork-US East Coast is not a problem in an A330-200. However, Aer Lingus do not have enough aircraft to operate the route along with their current schedule. Finding an available A330 elsewhere would be next to impossible. That's before the economics of the route come into it.
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I see that bluebird cargo operate a service from keflavik to cork. I wonder could icelandair operate cork - boston via iceland as a touch and go. That would be an interesting thought.
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Would it be worth their while?
They could end up building a route only to find that someone offers a direct service and steals all their passengers a couple of years down the line.
They could end up building a route only to find that someone offers a direct service and steals all their passengers a couple of years down the line.
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Nothing really that I know of.
However, in a slightly airport related way...
Does anyone know when the Kinsale Road Interchange is due to be completed? It took me half an hour to get through the roadworks yesterday when I was coming down from the airport yesterday.
However, in a slightly airport related way...
Does anyone know when the Kinsale Road Interchange is due to be completed? It took me half an hour to get through the roadworks yesterday when I was coming down from the airport yesterday.
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minister cullen was on with pat kenney yesterday morning.... thalking at length about all things transport relating to the republic of dublin.... no mention of the rest of the country of note..... and of course no mention of the debth issue at cork. i contacted the show to ask him... but its not really of importance to the republic of dublin whats happening in the little backwater colony at the other end of the country..... sad and very sad.... saw an article the other evening in the echo requesting some info on the matter.... its the not knowing that kills me really... let us know whats going on are we taking up the debt or not... if we knew we could get on with the show and stuff the daa and the rest of them... iam well and truly fed up with the whole thing..... whining about the one airbridge when we were.... we didnt know the half of it.....
