“Management at Cork Airport are today, Monday April 7th, in the process of aggressively marketing the airport to 16 different airlines at the Routes Europe 2014 conference in France. I spoke to Kevin Cullinane, head of communications with Cork Airport, this afternoon from the conference in France where he said that the process is going well and is part of Cork airports on-going efforts to attract new routes and connectivity to the region”

“The airport is pitching to a number of new airlines and trying to get more routes in and out of Cork Airport. It is an important opportunity for Cork Airport to market itself to the main executives in the aviation world. We need to add to the 50 destinations that we currently have from Cork. Shannon has 30 but Shannon does have transatlantic routes, something which we do not have in Cork. A survey by Travelagent.ie today has shown that there is a demand in existence for a Cork – New York service”

“This is a concern that I raised with Minister Leo Varadkar as recently as last Saturday in Limerick when we met. I feel that investment in Cork Airport has been slow in comparisons to the funds available to Dublin and Shannon airports”

“The more flights we can attract to Cork airport, the more inward investment we will open ourselves up to. A Transatlantic flight would be an enormous benefit to Cork and would surely bring more inward business from the United States”

“I have today written to the Minister for Transport to see if he will meet me at Cork airport to show him first hand just how important the airport is to the economy and the people of Cork. I want to keep the momentum that management at the airport have created and build upon the successes of Cork airport. Everything has to be on the table to attract more airlines to Cork. We have to look at reduced landing charges, more flexibility for airlines and any other measures which will bring much needed business to the airport”