Aer Lingus is expected to announce four new European routes from Cork Airport today in a significant expansion of its route network.
The airline's chief operations officer, Mr Séamus Kearney, is expected to make the announcement at the airport today. It will bring to 11 the number of routes Aer Lingus operates from Cork.
The airline declined to name the routes yesterday, although one is believed to be Faro in the Algarve.
The move comes as the airline continues to face criticism for its decision to phase out short-haul cargo services from Dublin, Cork and Shannon.
The Irish Exporter's Association has requested an urgent meeting with the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, over the issue.
However, a spokeswoman for the Minister last night said it was an "operational matter" for Aer Lingus and Mr Brennan had "every confidence" in the board's decisions.
Aer Lingus chief executive Mr Willie Walsh said short-haul cargo services were not profitable for the company, but it would retain services to Frankfurt and the US. He said there were several private firms providing short-haul cargo services and Aer Lingus needed to change its policy because new Airbus aircraft had less space for cargo.
He said increasingly firms were using road and ferry to transport cargo to Britain. "The bottom line is we were not making a profit on short-haul cargo," he said.
However, the chief executive of the Irish Exporter's Association, Mr John Whelan, said the move would result in higher costs for exporters, fewer options to reach market and pressure on companies to relocate their European distribution operations to mainland Europe.
Meetings on the subject at Government level are expected in the next fortnight. Large firms like Intel have joined in the condemnation of the move which kicks in from January 1st.
While Aer Lingus has been heavily criticised over its decision on cargo, the expansion at Cork is likely to be welcomed. With the State's three main airports increasingly competing with each other, the announcement will provide a major boost to Cork Airport.
Last year was another record year for Cork with a total of 2.1 million passengers handled, a 17 per cent increase on 2002. Of the four markets served, only the domestic market declined slightly in 2003, with the European market growing 46 per cent.
The construction company Rohcon is currently building a new terminal and major support infrastructure at Cork Airport.
The work involves the construction of a new terminal building to the rear of the existing facility, though linked to the airfield by extended apron frontage.
It will also include a new multi-storey car park; upgraded surface car-parking facilities; significantly improved internal road systems; a revamped fire station; and new enhanced power, water and other utility services.
The overall development at Cork will provide almost 4,500 car parking spaces, with more than 600 of these housed in a new multi-storey facility located between the new terminal building and the Great Southern Hotel.
- British airline MyTravel Lite has announced it is ending its Dublin-Birmingham route, although it denied this is the result of competition from Ryanair.
