CORK, Jan 4, 2026, 14:36 ET
Cork Airport has seen a surge in long-haul travellers over the Christmas period, travel news site Travel And Tour World reported on Saturday. It said passengers were drawn by the airport’s smaller scale and a quicker trip through security.
The report lands as Ireland’s airports move through the final stretch of the holiday travel rush and airlines position for demand into 2026. daa, which operates Cork and Dublin airports, said the state’s two busiest airports handled more than 2.8 million passengers in November, with Cork up 7% and Dublin up 11% from a year earlier.
Cork has been banking on “hub connectivity” — frequent services to major European gateways where passengers can transfer onward — rather than launching long-haul flights itself. Cork Airport said its winter schedule offers 1.4 million seats through March 2026 and allows passengers to connect to 320 worldwide destinations via the Air France-KLM network through Amsterdam and Paris.
The airport said last month it expected 164,000 passengers over the festive period, including 58,000 between Dec. 18 and Christmas Eve, and that traffic was 7% higher than a year earlier. It forecast Sunday, Dec. 21, as the busiest day for arrivals and Sunday, Dec. 28, for departures.
Looking beyond the holidays, Cork Airport said airlines are increasing schedules next summer to hub airports including Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, Paris and London Heathrow, expanding onward options to hundreds of destinations. “The enhanced hub connectivity will offer leisure passengers significantly greater choice and easier access to long-haul holiday destinations,” said Tom Randles, president of the Irish Travel Agents Association. 1
Cork Airport said in October it had already passed three million passengers in 2025, almost two months earlier than in 2024, and was running 14% passenger traffic growth year-to-date. It said its catchment has expanded beyond Munster into parts of south Leinster.
The airport’s €200 million upgrade plan is aimed at removing bottlenecks as traffic grows. Work on a new mezzanine floor will create a larger security screening area and a bigger executive lounge, the Irish Examiner reported, alongside new screening technology intended to let passengers keep liquids and large electronics in cabin bags.
Dublin Airport remains Ireland’s main hub for transatlantic and other long-haul routes, but it operates under a planning cap of 32 million passengers a year entering its terminals, according to Dublin Airport. The cap, introduced as a condition of planning permission for Terminal 2 in 2007, has become a focal point in debates about national capacity and connectivity.
But Cork’s pitch still relies on connecting flights: cuts to services at key hubs, or disruptions in Amsterdam, Paris or London, can quickly ripple into missed onward connections. Construction work could also test the airport’s promise of a fast journey if queues build during peak periods.
