If you plan on traveling to or from Cork Airport between Sunday, September 12, 2021 and Monday, November 22, 2021, you will need to alter your travel plans, as the airport will be closed due to major construction projects which will occur while the second largest airport in Ireland is experiencing a lower volume of passenger traffic due to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Travel Alert Autumn 2021: Cork Airport To Close For Two Months
“Given the low volumes predicted for this year (c200,000 passengers) versus the much higher volumes predicted at Cork Airport next year (over 1.5million passengers) we are progressing two operationally significant and major capital investment projects to get them completed with the minimum disruption”, according to this official press release from Cork Airport. “The €12 million upgrade of the hold baggage screening security system is nearing completion and will be commissioned in June. The largest construction project to be undertaken since the building of the new terminal and ancillary buildings in 2005 will be the reconstruction of our main runway which will be completed over a 10-week period from September 12 – November 22. We will be open this Summer, for whatever flights are operating and we will then complete the runway project over a short 10-week off-peak period allowing us to reopen for what we plan will be a busy Christmas and a bumper 2022.”
The sole runway for this airport which can handle commercial jet aircraft has been in operation since 1961 and had only been extended once in 1989 and repaved once in 1999 — meaning that this year, the newest pavement will be 22 years old and the extension will be 32 years old.
The airport handled 2.6 million passengers in 2019 with greater than 22,000 commercial landings on an annual basis.
Summary
Relatively nearby airports are available as alternatives — such as Shannon, Kerry, and even Waterford — but if you would rather use Dublin Airport, it is approximately 273 kilometers and almost three hours away from Cork Airport by car, which is not all that bad. I have been on the motorways in Ireland; and if you do not have any issues with driving on the left side of the road, the drive is rather easy. Tolls will cost you €1.90, which is also not terrible.
You could also travel by either bus or train between the two airports at a cost of between $30.00 and $63.00. Two buses will take you there in approximately four hours and five minutes, with one bus for most of the route.
While these alternatives are not as convenient as landing at Cork Airport if Cork or surrounding areas are your final destination, at least options are available during the closure of the airport this autumn.
Photograph ©2014 by Brian Cohen.
