The Tour de France, which will roll into Cork next Monday bringing millions of pounds in extra revenue to the city, will seriously curtail flight plans at Cork Airport.
The airport authorities say 14 flights in and out of the city's only airport will be unable to operate because of severe restrictions on flight patterns over Cork.
Helicopters providing television coverage of the race will be aloft and the French tour organisers have insisted that the airborne TV crews must get priority. The Cork Airport authorities have agreed.
Flights to Heathrow and Stansted as well as a number of flights to Dublin Airport and Paris will be disrupted due to the ban.
The Aer Rianta manager at Cork Airport, Mr Joe O'Connor, said hundreds of passengers might be forced to revise their travel plans for that day. He explained that only a certain number of take-off windows were available, and if these were missed they would be difficult to reschedule.
Aer Rianta has been advising people planning to leave Cork next Monday to check with travel agents.
Road traffic will also be affected in Cork next Monday, as no cars will be allowed into the city from early morning. Some major retail outlets and factories are considering closing down next Monday, because of the expected difficulties their employees would face in getting to work.
A decision is expected to be taken today.
All the shops in Henry Street and Mary Street in Dublin will be open on Friday and Saturday while the Tour de France is in the capital, the chief executive of the Henry Street Mary Street Partnership, Mr Ed McDonald, said yesterday. A number of shops will also be open on Sunday, he added.