29 May 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Cork Airport is ready to welcome 68,500 passengers this June Bank Holiday weekend. As post-primary schools break for their summer holidays, high demand for international travel in both directions means that passenger traffic at Cork Airport is up 20% this June Bank Holiday compared with the same weekend last year. The busiest day of the coming weekend will be Sunday, June 1.
This Saturday, Cork Airport will welcome a new airline as SunExpress start their new service to İzmir, Türkiye. Flying to the beautiful Aegean coast every Saturday and Wednesday between June and September, the new route provides the first direct, scheduled connection* to Türkiye from Cork. The service is expected to prove popular with passengers seeking to experience the best of Turkish scenery, climate, cuisine, and history.
The first week of June also marks the resumption of four popular Ryanair summer routes from Cork – to Carcassonne, La Rochelle, Rhodes and Zadar. All four services will operate twice weekly for the summer and into the early autumn.**
In the year-to-date, Cork Airport has experienced sustained growth, with passenger traffic up 14% versus the same period (January – May) last year. As demand for international travel remains very strong, larger numbers of passengers from across the South of Ireland are choosing to fly from Cork Airport to avail of convenient car parking, swift security queues, friendly customer service and our ever-growing range of destinations. This weekend will also see a large influx of international visitors touching down at Cork Airport as holidaymakers arrive to enjoy all that the South of Ireland has to offer. Over the coming days, there are particularly high load factors on services from the UK, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Looking forward to the June Bank Holiday weekend, Roy O’Driscoll, Deputy Managing Director at Cork Airport said: “The year is flying by, and we are yet again ready for another busy Bank Holiday weekend influx of passengers. As post-primary schools finish for the summer, we’re looking forward to welcoming lots of families from across the South of Ireland and beyond as they head off on their well-deserved holidays. Our team is ready to welcome 68,500 arriving and departing passengers this weekend, which is up 20% compared to the same weekend last year.”
As another busy bank holiday weekend approaches, passengers intending to travel are advised to arrive at Cork Airport at least 90 minutes prior to departure. With car parking sold out across all three car parks, passengers who have not pre-booked should opt for alternative modes of transport including public transport, taxi or drop-off, where appropriate.