Month: December 2016

The Cork Business Association warmly welcomes today's announcement from Aer Lingus' of additional services from Cork Aipport. The details were announced today at a press conference held at Cork Airport

• Aer Lingus announces 1.1million available seats for Summer 2017
• Additional daily flight from Cork to London Heathrow as well as 113 additional flights to sun destinations

Thursday, 15^th December 2016:  Today’s announcement by Aer Lingus that it is to increase its capacity across a number of its most popular routes for Summer 2017. The announcement by Cork Airport’s largest airline partner will see 1.1 million available seats for next summer to London and popular sun and European city destinations such as Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Faro, Palma and Paris.

The announcement, which was made at a media briefing at Cork Airport today by Mike Rutter, Aer Lingus Chief Operating Officer, will see the Cork – London Heathrow service continue to expand for the summer season with an additional daily flight from Monday to Saturday. This boosts available seats to London by an additional 26,000, representing an increase 22% growth in weekly frequency and a total of 319,000 seats during summer 2017.

Aer Lingus will also increase availability to key summer sun destinations from Cork Airport to a total of 319,000 seats to Alicante, Malaga, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Palma among others. Peak summer will see a growth of almost 50% on Alicante flights, 15% growth on its Barcelona route and increased flights (11%) to Faro. There will also be additional early season flights to Palma and Malaga and additional end of season flights to Las Palmas from Cork Airport.

Speaking at today’s media briefing, Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport said: ““I am delighted that our oldest and largest airline partner, Aer Lingus, is here today in Cork to announce further capacity and passenger growth for next year. Heathrow, our largest route across all our airline partners, is a mainstay of our Cork operation for both direct London and long haul connectivity. Our business community particularly will welcome the extra capacity on that key hub. Our leisure customers will welcome the extra capacity on Summer sun favourites Alicante, Faro, Palma, Malaga and city break destination Barcelona. We look forward to building on that growth further with Aer Lingus in 2017”.

Mike Rutter, Aer Lingus Chief Operating Officer, said today: “Aer Lingus is delighted to announce 1.1 million seats in and out of Cork as part of our 2017 summer schedule and to retain our position as the leading carrier operating from Cork and serving the wider Munster region. The Cork Heathrow route will enjoy greater connectivity with an additional 26,000 seats and during peak summer will operate five daily services during Monday to Saturday.  We are also pleased to offer an additional 21,000 seats to the sun and greater frequency on key sun routes such as Alicante and Faro. We look forward to welcoming our Munster guests on board in summer 2017.”

Today’s announcement is further good news for Cork Airport following recent new route announcements from WOW air, Swiss International Air, Norwegian Air and Volotea. According to MacCarthy: “We have had a tremendous twelve months and will finish the year in a very strong position with increased passenger numbers and choice of routes. 2017 is looking very bright indeed and we’re optimistic about what the future holds for Cork Airport”.

Commenting Cork Business Association CEO said"This is extremely positive news to end the year on for Cork Airport.With passengers numbers already up by 8% and new route announcements including Norwegian Air and WOW. The statement by Aer Lingus' today confirming extra capacity on the Cork Heathrow route will be warmly welcomed by the business community.

The carrier had applied for a licence three years ago but the process was delayed over concerns about the impact the flights would have on existing services. However,  the US Department of Transportation has now granted the licence after the EU opened up an arbitration process, accusing the US of breaching the Open Skies agreement, which allows European carriers to fly to the US. It is expected that Cork to New York flights will follow in due course.

Norwegian Air has confirmed it is now finalising its plans for flights from Cork and welcomed the decision from the US authorities.

While the delays Norwegian have faced have been unfortunate, ultimately the decision now made by the US Department of Transportation finally paves the way for greater competition, more flights, and more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” said a spokesperson

Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport said: “This is momentous news for air travellers on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s great news for Open Skies and for consumer choice and competition. I firmly believe this will permanently transform the transatlantic market in Ireland and further afield for the better. Norwegian will do for transatlantic travel what Ryanair has done for European travel, bringing lower fares, increased competition and growth to the overall market. There has been a tremendous amount of work undertaken to secure this route on both sides of the Atlantic and we must acknowledge the huge support received from political, business and local government stakeholders in Ireland, the EU and US. The final stages of the process have seen a significant contribution and support from the public too and I want to thank everyone who helped make this happen. These flights will help grow inbound tourism, give Cork Airport’s passengers greater choice, attract more investment to the region and improve social and cultural ties between Ireland and the US. We expect Boston bound flights to take off in coming months with New York flights beginning soon afterwards. Securing a transatlantic service for Ireland’s second largest airport has been an aspiration of ours for some time and Norwegian Air’s service will be welcomed by business and leisure travellers throughout the region.

Minister Shane Ross T.D. also has welcomed the decision  by the US Department for Transportation to grant an unconditional permit to Norwegian Air International to operate services between Ireland and the US.  This decision means that the airline can start operating the new routes from Cork to the US that it announced last year and the other new transatlantic routes that it has planned.

“I am very pleased that a decision has been made and that NAI as an EU airline licenced by the Irish aviation authorities will finally be allowed to avail of the rights available to all EU airlines under the EU-US Open Skies Agreement.  This is good news for consumers on both sides of the Atlantic, and I now look forward to NAI confirming its plans for the new services it announced last year.  The launch of those services, bringing additional capacity and the direct transatlantic connectivity into the region, will be a boost for Cork Airport and for Cork business and tourism, and I am sure that the services will be well supported by the people in Cork and the wider catchment area”.

Commenting on the decision CBA president Pat O'Connell said " Coming on the back of what has been a highly successful year for Cork Airport this announcement has hugely positive implications not alone for the Airport but also for the southern region.

Commenting on the announcement Cork Business Association Chief Executive Lawrence Owens said"This announcement is extremely encouraging and is the culmination of a long and complex process. The economic benefit it can deliver for the region is significant and it will also further strengthen Cork Airports position as the states second Airport. This positive decision has been achieved by the ongoing collaboration of several stakeholders both local,national & international. It is important we acknowledge the support of the business and tourism sector our local authorities,elected representatives, Cork Chamber and the backing this process has received on both sides of the Atlantic. Finally I am absolutely delighted for Niall Mac Carthy and his team at Cork Airport it is a fitting reward for all their efforts". 

Dear Member over the past number of years Cork's 96FM and C103 have been running a"Shop Local" radio ad campaign at the peak Christmas shopping period to encourage your customers to support their local shops and businesses,by purchasing their shopping in Cork. Supporting the local economy and protecting jobs.

This radio campaign is valued at over €15000 each year which starts on Monday November 21st and will run right through to Christmas Eve(90 promos on each station)

This year the Cork Business Association and Cork City Council will team up with 96FM & C103 to increase awareness around this superb initiative and to encourage participation directly from local businesses themselves.

We are asking all our members to get involved by displaying the " I love to Shop Local" sticker which will be distributed to businesses in the city.

We are also saying get social too! Simply display the sticker on your shop front,share a photo on twitter using the hashtag 'shoplocalcork' and 96FM &C103 will retweet these to their 43000+ followers on their twitter platform.

From the 12th to the 16th of December 96FM & C103 Street Fleet team will visit a number of randomly selected businesses who have been tweeting using the hashtag and are displaying their stickers to further promote the campaign and to deliver hampers to randomly selected winners.