Cork Airport - *Read Mod Note in First Post Before Posting*

Bruges is a PITA to get to, but is well worth a visit. Stop off in Ghent too, thats sorely underrated.

Cork - Amsterdam - Brussels with KLM and then onwards to Bruges. Or the underrated option - fly to London, Eurostar to Brussels and train to Bruges from there.

UAE is a non starter due to existing connectivity out of Dublin but a non premium carrier such as EgyptAir to Cairo as a hub for the Africa/Mid East region would be fantastic.

Lisbon /Madrid for onward to Latin America will also be very helpful for many people living in Munster from that part of the world and also tourism from here.

Chris would be happy with more KLM Amsterdam and more Air France Paris

←

←

←

I’d say around 500 meters should be enough. Emirates regularly use 28L/10R at Dublin with their 777s, and that Runway is only 2637 meters long. Granted, the resulting take-off performance is akin to a morbidly obese albatross or a particularly lethargic pterodactyl, but they make it work.

Adding 500 meters to Cork’s main runway, which should just about be possible without excessive earth moving works, would take 16/34 up to 2633 meters. The bigger issue for me with regards to Emirates is the available apron space and the taxiways, or rather the lack thereof. I’m not sure if a 777 could turn around on the main runway in Cork. In addition, there’s only one aircraft stand at Cork Airport that can take aircraft of the size that are operated by Emirates, Stand 19, all the way in the Cargo section of the airport. This would block three other aircraft stands over there and block access to a hangar from what I can see, so it’s not a viable option for a scheduled operation.

To make a regular operation of the type of wide body aircraft that Emirates like feasible in Cork, we’re probably not just looking at a runway extension, but at the demolition of the old terminal, the relocation of the flight school and GA apron, and the construction of a full-length parallel taxiway. None of this is particularly difficult, but it would be a massive investment, one that I honestly don’t think is warranted at this stage.

Now, Etihad or Qatar are a different matter. They operate, or have ordered smaller aircraft that wouldn’t require anything but the runway extension.

When it comes to the 737 MAX8, I’m pretty sure that would work. Norwegian used them on the Providence run without any payload restrictions I could notice when I made my little trip there in 2018. I would agree with you on Qatar, it seems like a long shot, but I’d just like to point out that their 737 MAX8 do operate with a two-class layout and IFE, so it wouldn’t be a reduction in service quality.

If Cork has any ambition they'll have to extend the runway first and foremost. It's the biggest issue in launching longer routes.