Champagne greeted the first passengers to arrive on a flight to Cork airport's new terminal building yesterday.
The 28,000sq m split-level building, under construction since 2003, is three times larger than the existing terminal and will now encompass the new arrivals and departures hall.
The project cost about €160 million and includes a multi-storey car park for more than 4,600 vehicles.
The first flight, a Ryanair flight from Stansted, arrived at 7.20am. The first passenger through was Martin Davis from Essex who was coming to Cork on business.
He described the new terminal as "a huge improvement".
Airport marketing manager Kevin Cullinane said: "Cork airport is the primary gateway to the southern region and this year we will see three million passengers pass through."
Mr Cullinane denied that the airport was in negotiations with Ryanair regarding the possibility that the airline would use the older structure.