Cork Airport passengers tumble to just 28,000

Passenger numbers at Cork Airport tumbled 91 per cent to just 28,000 last month as Covid-19 travel restrictions continued to hit.

The airport said on Wednesday that it has hosted one million fewer travellers so far this year than during the same period in 2019.

Figures published by Cork Airport show that 28,000 people travelled through there in July, normally its busiest month.

Cork pointed out that it handled 297,000 passengers in July 2019, 91 per cent more than last month.

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The news comes just days after it emerged that Aer Lingus chief executive, Sean Doyle, had told staff that it could close bases at Cork and Shannon.

The airport expects to lose €23 million in revenues by the end of this year. Just five airlines are flying from there at the moment, against 10 in 2019.

At the same time, the number of routes from there has almost halved to 27 from 52.

Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy warned that aviation needed a clear path to recovery.

He suggested that this could involve agreements on passenger testing with other countries, as suggested by DAA, the State company responsible for Cork and Dublin airports, last week.

“We have seen our passenger numbers plummet by over one million in the last seven months alone and we expect passenger numbers to decline by two million by the end of the year,” Mr MacCarthy said.