Cork Airport today confirms that Lufthansa will resume its Frankfurt – Cork service on June 1, 2026. Following the closure of Lufthansa’s regional subsidiary, Lufthansa Cityline last month and the grounding of 27 aircraft, engagement immediately began on securing the restoration of the service. Following the route’s introduction in 2021, the Frankfurt – Cork service had grown from strength to strength. The restoration of the service with Lufthansa (mainline) is testament to the popularity of the service for business, trade and commerce – along with inbound tourism.

Starting on June 1, 2026, Lufthansa (mainline) will fly the Frankfurt – Cork service every Monday and Friday. The service will operate using a larger Airbus A319 aircraft, with a seat capacity of 138 compared with Lufthansa Cityline’s 90-seater aircraft. Cork Airport maintains its proud offering of the best connectivity between Ireland and Frankfurt that is available outside of Dublin. With a 17:05 departure time, the service will enable connections to the wider Lufthansa global network at Frankfurt – the airline’s main hub. From Cork, passengers can connect to destinations in Asia, the Middle East, South America, along with many other European cities.

Germany is Ireland’s third-largest source market for inbound tourism, and the resumption of the Frankfurt – Cork service maintains key access for German holidaymakers when visiting the South of Ireland. The wider Frankfurt Rhine-Main region is home to over 5.8 million people and in 2025, Ireland welcomed a total of 433,000 visitors from Germany. Research by Tourism Ireland shows that after Dublin, the most popular region for German holidaymakers is the South-West (Cork, Kerry).

In welcoming the positive news from Lufthansa, Head of Aviation Business Development & Communications at Cork Airport, Tara Finn said: “We were hugely disappointed with the closure of Lufthansa Cityline and the grounding of 27 aircraft affecting many European cities, including Cork. On that basis, it is a testament to the strength of the South of Ireland market that Lufthansa (mainline) have elected to recommence the service using a different, larger aircraft type. We are delighted to be back connecting to Frankfurt from June onwards.”

As a key route for inbound tourism, Seamus Heaney, Head of Visit Cork added: “This is wonderful news and great credit to the teamwork between Cork Airport, Lufthansa, Visit Cork and Tourism Ireland in restoring this vital connectivity from Frankfurt, which is so important to local tourism.”