The principal highlight at Cork Airport during 2006 was the eagerly anticipated opening of the new state-of-the-art terminal on August 1st.  The new terminal opened to universal acclaim from Cork Airport employees, Airlines, Airport users, passengers and the general public.

2006 proved to be a record year for passenger numbers at Cork Airport.
• Over 3 million passengers flew into and out of Cork Airport in 2006.  This is the first time that the three million barrier was broken in the 45 year history of Cork Airport.  The figure represents an impressive 11% increase on the previous record of 2.7 million passengers who used Cork Airport in 2005.
• Domestic routes, pricipally the Cork-Dublin route, was the strongest performer in terms of growth in 2006 at +73.5%, followed by the increase on European scheduled routes at +38.3%. 
• The 3 million passengers who travelled through Cork Airport in 2006 can be further broken down as follows:
o Over 2.5 million passengers availed of services within the EU
o Over 1.5 million passengers availed of Cork Airport as a gateway to the UK, an increase of 4.1% on 2005 figures.  
o Over 400,000 passengers availed of domestic services on the Cork-Dublin and Cork-Galway routes. 
o Over 370,000 passengers flew on chartered flights to winter sun, winter ski, summer sun, pilgrimage and rugby destinations.
o Over 75,000 passengers flew direct to the five Polish cities now served directly from Cork Airport.  
• Two new airlines, Wizz Air and Centralwings began operations from Cork Airport in 2006 and fifteen new routes were launched in total.   
o Over 1 million passengers flew with Aer Lingus into and out of Cork Airport fo rthe first time in its history.
o New entrants to the market, Wizz Air and Centralwings flew almost 30,000 passengers in their first months of operation.
o Ryanair increased their passenger business from 544,000 to 820,000 passengers while their flights grew from 3,700 to 6,000.
• Cork Airport currently offers passengers a choice of 38 scheduled destinations on eight airlines.
o Aer Arann
o Aer Lingus
o BMI Baby
o Centralwings
o Jet2
o Malev Hungarian Airlines
o Ryanair
o Wizz Air

-ENDS-

Kevin Cullinane
Marketing Manager
CORK AIRPORT
AERFORT CHORCAI
Ireland
Telephone: +353 21 4329611
www.corkairport.com