FYI Dublin already has a direct daily service to Boston (EI137) with the EI133 running via Shannon

Any more 'hints' of an LS aircraft in ORK?

New summer Air Southwest will Operate Cork to Plymouth and Newquay 12345-7 :ok:

It's a bit complicated though. Sometimes the aircraft will fly Plymouth - Newquay - Cork and other days it will fly Newquay - Plymouth - Cork.

Regarding Plymouth and Newquay, may sound a bit complicated but basically as far as I can see it is Cork-Newquay 6 days a week and Cork-Plymouth 4 days a week. The Dublin-Newquay carries on daily and three days a week they will also offer Dublin-Plymouth. The Plymouth link makes a lot of sense, as I think Air Wales used to do ok on these.

Air Southwest aircraft utilisation for Cork routes
 

1-3-5-7 PLH - NQY - ORK - PLH - NQY
-2-4--- NQY - ORK - NQY

Cork to Plymouth: 1-3-5-7 (direct)
Plymouth to Cork: 1-3-5-7 (via Newquay)

Cork to Newquay: 1-3-5-7 (via Plymouth), -2-4--- (direct)
Newquay to Cork: 12345-7 (direct)

Statement on the Cork Airport website regarding the debt issue.
Also mentioned at end that Cork is on target to carry 3.2 million passengers this year!

Summer 2008
 

With the good news of the increase of Air Southwest flights to Plymouth and Newquay is Aer Lingus doing more out of Cork for the Summer 2008?:ok:
We have heard there might be a Jersey flight twice a week:ok: for next year, if so does this replace the one Aer Arran flight operated on Saturdays?

People in the know may correct me if I am wrong but I seem to recall from some years back that there used to be a rough rule of thumb among UK airports that handled 3 million plus pax a year that they could make a go of a transatlantic route? Time to put it to the test at Cork? If Knock can despatch 737-700s to Boston why not Cork to BOS or New York.

No, have not heard anything about Jersey. Did okay for JetMagic as a seasonal route a few years ago but putting EI A320 on the route might be just a little too much? Not sure, really. Interesting to note that like JetBlue the Central American group of airlines, TACA, have just recently ordered some ERJ-190. Might be something for an adventurous EI to try if they have no wish to go down the A319 route. With a 99 seat or less ERJ-190 you can get away with 2 cabin crew rather than 3 crew on a 149 seater A319? Lots of potentially viable new routes out there for aeroplanes with lower operating costs and fuel burn?

Thought someone else might mention that the inaugural Sky Europe flight from Bratislava began yesterday into Cork. Hope the route does well. Think the frequency is around 3 a week which should be okay. Nice bright colours on their 737s and the winglets look mighty on -700 series airframe.

The bit of colour brightens up the grey Cork skies - Jazz weekend notwithstanding!

Hope Mr Gantly's encouraging talk about independence for Cork Airport from the DAA is serious and not just posturing in the wake of Mr Shanahan's firm stand at snn. Certainly, one to watch over the next few days!

Tom,

Its 1 FA per 50 PAX, so anyone could get away with 100 seats and 2 FA. While E190s would be perfect for a lot of routes I dont know how keen EI are to introduce a second tyoe to short-haul ops. Given the size difference it would be pretty straightforward from a scheduling point of view and CC could be cross trained. But surely EI would have looked at A319 for some of the A320 order. I would love to see a smaller EI aircraft though.

JER...I think it could be quite popular BHX has disappeared from the timetable for two days a week, so it might happen, I guess.....

Brian.

Cork - Jersey is now bookable on Aer Lingus' website. Starts May 20th, Saturdays and Tuesdays, afternoon flights.

;)

Either EMB190/195 or CRJ-900X might be a goer - Air Canada have bought both for their long thin US and Canada routes and have reduced their 32x count somewhat. Pluses or minuses to both of course. Ever since WW there seems to be a big commitment to simplifying the fleet at EI and adding types might be seen as backsliding.

I'd like to see EI acquire a couple of more A321s so that LHR is always 321 once BFS is bedded in (given the price of the slots I would argue you gotta pack them in) with the ability to field some 321 flights on bucket/spade routes, not to mention that Gordon Brown is looking at moving to a air tax regime which might favour larger aircraft on fewer frequencies.

It would give them the opportunity to open some thinner routes out of Cork and Belfast and on some of the low volume routes out of Dublin, it could allow them to open multiple daily flights instead of a single one, which would be needed if they are serious about turning Dublin into a hub for transatlantic connections.

But, with oil above $90 a barrel, a jet with fewer than 100 people will struggle economically, even before fleet uniformity problems are taken into account. And as Mark implies, financial markets may flinch at seeing Aer Lingus moving into what looks like a higher cost model.

Ah, but you have forgotten about the recent oil find off the Cork and Waterford coast and that there were plenty of oil related flights into Cork from Aberdeen throughout the summer period. $90 a barrel? No problem! Plenty of new flights yet to come for good ol' Cork - let us hope!

Just heard that the first outbound Sky Europe flight from Cork to Bratislava yesterday went out full!! Sure, it is the mid-term break for the kids but what an encouraging start!

Corcaigh abu!

I'd say Bratislava will be very popular,especially with stags. I work with a group of 15 going to bratislava from cork in Feb and they got it for E90 return.:)

Oh Stevie.....

There are only so many places that EI can send that a/c in a space of time, as the a/c previously operated BHX. Its only twice a week in the summer, and the EI presence at SNN is in its twilight months. While the A320 is a little too large for many of the ORK routes, load only tells so much of the story. You and I both know that the cost differences between the A319/A320 are not all that much, all you save is a single CC, a cup or two of fuel and some ATC fees. EI would need a rather large fleet of A319s to make sense, about 12 or so. Its a yield game......and JER aint the cheapest of route avialable from ORK. Also bear in mind that EI may have sold a nice chunk of (profitable)seats to Barter and Slattery already, jetMagic did this.....

In other news, ATI reports that RE are looking at CRJ & E-JET in 70 and 100 seat flavours. They are also ready and willing to codeshare with EI on domsestic services, EI "have agreed in principle", what ever that means.

Brian.

There really weren't too many places with the same flight time as Birmingham it could have gone to. Most other likely candidates are already served from Cork. Maybe somewhere like Brest could have been an alternative, but as Brian points out, there is a well-established charter market to Jersey and they can flog a lot of the seats in bulk.

That said, I can't work out Aer Lingus' intentions with the Birmingham route. There's not a hell of a lot of point being on it if they aren't at least daily. Even then, they'd be better off putting on enough capacity to get the route to themselves. Maybe Ryanair going onto East Midlands means they don't see the same market there now?

Interesting news about RE looking at jets. It could allow them to operate longer routes from Cork, but presumably any proved route would become vulnerable to someone sticking an A320 or 737 on it.

They could have squeezed a Brussels out of it I'd say.
I live in hope...

great news if its true
 

Just heard very interesting news .... the ei a321 that was doing landings etc last week was actually performing cat 111a approaches and landings, for future cat 111a operations at cork

Great news if Cork does get Cat III, should virtually elimanate Aer Lingus diversions anyway.
On another note I was just reading the press release on the Cork Airport website with regard to the Air Southwest expansion and it says that Newquay and Plymouth will operate year round. This is great news since Newquay is usually a summer only route.

Doesnt the current terrain around cork airport make it prohibitive for a CAT III installation for 17/35? Is it feasible to extend 07/25 with the current availability of land? The terrain around 07/25 isn't as undulating making it more suitable for CAT III traffic. Considering the prevailing winds as well, 25 would be a much better option too.