I would guess it's a combination of two things;

1) The aircraft builds up delays over the course of the day. AMS is slot-restricted, which usually results in any delay being multiplied.
2) The aircraft waits for late connecting passengers. AFIK the AMS-ORK leg is the last flight of the day so it might be cheaper for EI to wait for connecting passengers than put them up overnight at AMS.

Connecting pax would probably be on the KL codeshare, so KL would take the bill for late arrivals onto ORK.

Also to let you guys no the EI845/KL3173 flight mostly runs late due to the fact it swaps aircraft with EI611 in AMS. I think that happens on Mondays, Wednesdays & Thursdays. Also hearing EI had a meeting with some based cabin crew @ Cork, i think the 4 a/c might be back again year round from Oct next.

Last night it was a combination of a late inbound aircraft and snow in Amsterdam leading to the aircraft needing to be de-iced before it left for Cork.

To be honest, the greatest cause of the delay is the boarding procedure in Amsterdam where passengers go through security at the gate.

This was changed a few years ago. Essentially because Ireland is non-Schengen, Cork-bound passengers can mingle with passengers who have arrived off non-EU flights. This means they have to be screened at the gate. For Schengen countries, more normal boarding procedures of a single security check at the entrance to the airside area apply.

That is indeed a big cause of delay!

Manx2 to end Belfast/Cork flights
 

Manx2 has decided to terminate its service between Belfast and Cork.

Manx2 cancels route after air crash | BreakingNews.ie

yes.... confirmed on BBC NI Newsline.... shame.... but understandable !!

To be honest guys it was inevitable! over recent days/weeks since the accident flights have been pulled or Cancelled on a regular basis due to low pax turn out. Alot of Business Travellers who use the route regularly lost confidence in Manx2 following the crash and the claims which followed in recent weeks i.e. payout... Hopefully after an operational gap Flybe might be intrested who knows although figures on the route are low anyway it would'nt suprise me if this is the end of the Cork-Belfast City air link altogether.

Such a shame if the link is lost. Wasn't this Jetmagic's most profitable route?? On the LDY thread they talked of the unreliability of Aer Arann on the LDY - DUB, so potentially the traffic is there, but just RE and Manx2 didn't do the route justice. Would love to see BE offer the route, even if using the smaller Loganair frames.

Not a surprise really. After all the bad publicity surrounding the crash, it was obvious that Manx2 were finished at Cork. I'd imagine that bookings fell off a cliff after the crash! I'd be surprised if Manx2 were to ever return to Cork.

I think a market still does remain, afterall Manx2 where never heard of to be honest in most parts of Ireland & the U.K. until the crash - if Flybe did start the route they have a big brand name and certinaly would attract triple the pax usage on the route even if it was only a daily return service...

Also on another note the planned Manx2 resumption of GWY-ORK-GWY for Summer 11 (June to Sept) has been axed too.

It always amazes me that following an Air France crash for example, the effect to bookings is minimal, but if it's a smaller airline then it's curtains.

I dunno seems pretty clear to me. On one hand we have a large national carrier with a huge amount of experience, highly professional crews, modern fleet that are well maintained and insured and a very low accident rate.

Compare that with this so called "virtual airline". Tickets sold by x, AOC held by y, aircraft leased from z, crew employed by someone else and management distancing themselves from all claims against said airline.

Just as the people voted in the Irish elections I would say the savvy traveler is voting with the feet.

Aer Lingus - Summer Changes
 

Cork - Palma - Wednesday flight added - now 3 weekly flights
Cork - Tenerife - Wednesday flight cut - now once weekly

So EI are going head to head with Ryanair, both will have a once-weekly service on a Sunday! beyond we why EI didnt give PMI the sunday slot weekend service would be great to PMI! although any increase is welcome, forward bookings on the route believed to be positive, but i was told the same about EI TFS route so obiously the new FR compition did something to them! hope the summer goes well for both anyway ! :rolleyes:

Schedule changes:

ORK-PMI will operate x3 weekly (Mon, Wed, Thur) from 2 May.
ORK-TFS will operate x1 weekly (Sun) from 1 May.

hey guys
just wondering if anyone has heard if there is any airlines interested in taking on the belfast city to cork route?
aer arann used to do it will they be interested again or maybe even aer lingus regional

any news?

thanks

nope none yet

Minister plans to axe travel tax - Republic of Ireland, Local & National - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Good news for Cork! :D

Cork traffic
 

Cork traffic down by 17% for 1st two months of 2011. This is a continuation of the double digit decline that began at the end of 2009 and has been a feature of almost every month since.

If this trend continues then Cork will go from a record 3.25m in 2008 to below 2m in 2011 a figure not seen since 2003. While all of the media attention has been on the disastrous fall in traffic at Shannon, Cork's performance is also a cause for serious concern particularly as Dublin appears to have turned the corner.

ryan, I wouldn't lose all hope just yet. As the economy eventually stabilises, usage will go up. A bit of good news this week to, was that Leo Varadkar has announced he'd drop the £3 tourism tax. Calling Ryanairs bluff about damage to traffic and tourism figures.

If this goes ahead, lets hope that airfares will become marginally cheaper and Ryanair will return with a bumper amount of routes.

What I hope for is that one day airports in Ireland will reflect their populations, and we may be seeing this occur. Up North, Derry is finally increasing again whilst BFS is on the decline.