Cantillon: Ups and downs at Cork Airport

It has been a mixed few weeks on the news front for Cork Airport. Just days ago CityJet announced that it planned to axe its service from there to London City Airport, saying demand for the service was too low.

The news came just weeks after the US "tentatively" approved Norwegian Air International's application for a permit that would allow it operate flights to there from EU cities, including a Cork-Boston service.

That should be a positive for Cork but the route was actually due to launch this month. However, Norwegian has postponed it as the airline does not have final approval from the US department of transportation. It could be weeks before this materialises. That is, if it comes at all, as it faces stiff opposition in the US where aviation unions claim the Scandinavian operator is using the Republic as a flag of convenience to hire cheap labour to crew its flights.

Cork’s managing director Niall McCarthy was one of a number of business people and politicians who this week wrote to US congressman Peter DeFazio of the bipartisan Friends of Ireland Caucus, describing these claims as inaccurate.