Cork Airport hopes Madrid service will boost Spanish numbers

Cork Airport and Tourism Ireland hope that an extension of the Iberia Express summer service to Madrid will boost visitor numbers from Spain.

The Spanish carrier plans to extend its Cork-Madrid service into summer 2017. Iberia will begin flying between the two cities on June 3rd, two weeks earlier than it did this year, and will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays through to September.

Cork Airport’s managing director Niall MacCarthy said the popularity of the route exceeded expectations this year. “We welcome this increase in flights with Iberia Express for this coming summer season.”

Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said the extension of the service was good news for the hospitality industry. He pledged that the organisation would work with Cork Airport and Iberia Express to boost visitor numbers from Spain to Cork and the south of the country.

"Spain is an important market for tourism to the island of Ireland, and 2016 looks set to be another record year for Spanish visitors, with the latest Central Statistics Office figures showing an increase of plus 12.4 per cent for January to September."