Transatlantic Flights from Cork Airport

thejuggler

I wonder if sometime in our lifetime we will see scheduled transatlantic flights from Cork airport.

There has been talk lately that the bilateral agreement between aer lingus and the US Operators may be scrapped. This agreement basically keeps the cosy cartel at Dublin and Shannon happy and states that for every two flights that land in Ireland from the US one must land in Shannon. As Dublin is the capital obviously all the others go there. So Cork loses out

However new EU "Open Skies" policy may force the agreement to be renegotiated if not scrapped altogether. I wonder if this was to happen would Aer Lingus start a service from Cork to New York.

Somehow I 'm not holding my breath.....

rymus

I didnt think the main runway at Cork airport was long enough to land anything larger than a 737?!? That may be complete balls however as it came from a not too reliable source of info.

yellum

A 747 full of passengers and luggage can land but it can't take off. Sans luggage it can. I remember the day when the first 747 landed and took off. I was there at the backfence of the airport watching with my grandad and hundreds more plane spotters.

As far as I know I got a flight from Cork to New Jersey before. Can't remember the airlines name though.

thejuggler

I think they extended it a few years ago

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

dahamsta

Could never understand this tbh -- how much can it cost to extend a runway? I mean, it's obviously not as simple as firing some tarmac into a hole like the Corpo, but still, with the amount they spend on other stuff... ?

adam

rymus

aren't there 2 roads pretty much in the way of any extension to the runway though? I'm not sure how close one end is to the road but the other end (where people park to watch planes and/or have sex) is only a few hundred feet from the runway.

ShevY

Don't they get jumbo's in for the munster matches for travelling fans...

yellum

Yes. They can do that as people only bring carry-on luggage.

thejuggler

I remember travelling along that road around the perimeter of the airport. There isn't much along that road so if the will was there perhaps they could have it closed and extend the runway in that direction.

Problem is I don't think the will is there. Inevitably nothing will happen until Aer Rianta is broken up and Cork has a fairer chance of getting more business when Dublin will no longer be calling the shots.

parsi

Originally posted by thejuggler
I remember travelling along that road around the perimeter of the airport. There isn't much along that road so if the will was there perhaps they could have it closed and extend the runway in that direction.

Problem is I don't think the will is there. Inevitably nothing will happen until Aer Rianta is broken up and Cork has a fairer chance of getting more business when Dublin will no longer be calling the shots.

You might want to travel it again.. there are a fair few houses along it and a good bit of traffic..

thejuggler

Oh well its been a couple of years since I was there. The memory is hazy. the residents must be fairly immune to noise or at least have very good double glazing!

williamgrogan

I don't think Aer Lingus have any more 747s. They now use Airbus 330? and I'm sure that requires a lot less runway.

My brother in law works in Aer Lingus - I'll ask him.

Incidentally, I'm going to Memphis in April and a very good route is Cork-Amsterdam-Memphis. About €650 return with all taxes. I've flown it before.

A good trick when flying long haul or multi-leg is to go to the web site of the arrivial airport and then see who flies into and out of it. Then go to that airline's main hub and get a flight back to Cork, i.e. work backwards.

DukeDredd

What about the new terminal thats being built up there at the moment? I heard there was a new runway being built with it. Surely in this day and age it will cater for any passenger plane.

thejuggler

(from 96fm.ie)

An American tour operator has signed up to run a weekly flight between Cork and JFK from June to September.

The route will be served by a Boeing 757 with a capacity of 210 passengers.

Joe O` Connor, the manager of Cork Airport, has said the announcement of the new route is a huge boost for Cork Airport - and Cork in general - and has said that it is a "further indication of ongoing interest in Cork".


At least its a start. How about a year round service!

williamgrogan

Do you know who and what's their web site?

PS

Aer Lingus have only 330's for USA flights and they can use Cork Airport but my contact says it depends on the "bravery of the pilots."

thejuggler

More info at http://www.oconnors.com/charter_flights_to_ireland/new_york_to_cork.cfm

williamgrogan

Ta. The fare is a bit confusing. Is it the sum of the two legs? If so it's dear enough, $500 minimum plus taxes?

Dub13

the best way to get around this os to move out of the sticks and to Dublin

williamgrogan

I did and left. Better to live in a beautiful place like Cork and have the slight inconvienience with flights they be stuck in dirty old Dublin.

thejuggler

I have also lived in Dublin (not by choice). I would never live there again. It doesn't have much going for it for bar the airport. Besides Shannon is closer.