Cork Airport will service four new routes to continental Europe, bringing the total number of Aer Lingus flights from the city to 11, it was announced yesterday.
Aer Lingus will now offer customers direct flights from Cork to Munich, Rome, Nice and Faro. The Munich and Faro flights will run three times weekly with Rome and Nice each starting off as a twice-weekly route.
The airline is currently offering introductory prices of under €100 for all routes.
However, the flights will not be in operation until next summer.
As part of the expansion, Aer Lingus will also be basing three new Airbus 320 aircraft in Cork Airport by April 2005. The expansion plans were unveiled at an event hosted by Aer Rianta in Cork yesterday
Commenting on the expansion Mr Joe O'Connor, director of Cork Airport, said the announcement was the most significant of its nature in the last number of years.
"It will have a sizeable impact on passenger numbers flying in and out of Cork. We look forward to the positive impact of increased tourism for the region as a direct result of these new routes.
"My hope is that this service will be used not only by people from Cork but by passengers from Limerick and Tipperary," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Séamus Kearney, chief operations officer at Aer Lingus, said there was a possibility that the introduction of transatlantic flights from Cork may be on the cards over the next few years. However, he conceded that existing bilateral deals, which restrict transatlantic services to Shannon and Dublin, would have to change to allow for Cork-US flights.
"Cork to JFK would be an option. A changed Irish-US bilateral agreement would be of benefit to this region.
"We are strong advocates for change. There would be a significant transatlantic market out of Cork."
Mr Kearney said the announcement of new routes in Cork formed part of its strategy of expanding the airline's European network and of providing direct, low-fares access to popular destinations for customers.
He added the company was moving away from its traditional image of being a high-cost carrier to being viewed as "cheap and cheerful".
The company has launched 32 new routes since November 2001 and has plans for 10 more routes by 2005.
Aer Lingus is by far the largest airline operating out of Cork. It offers 11 routes from Cork including flights to Barcelona, Alicante, Milan, London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris and Malaga.
A record 2.18 million passengers passed through Cork Airport last year. This represented a 17 per cent increase on figures for 2002.
Aer Lingus has come in for heavy criticism in recent years for ceasing its Cork to Dublin route.
Its plans to stop its cargo service at the airport from January next have also been criticised by members of the business community in Cork.
