Cork Airport

Cork Airport, in Irish Aerfort Chorcaí, is the 2nd largest out of the three principal international airports of the Republic of Ireland. The airport codes are IATA: ORK, and ICAO: EICK. ORK airport is situated within 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in the south of the city center of Cork in an area locally known as Farmers Cross.

Cork Airport

General Information

Cork Airport, in Irish Aerfort Chorcaí, is the 2nd largest out of the three principal international airports of the Republic of Ireland. The airport codes are IATA: ORK, and ICAO: EICK. ORK airport is situated within 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in the south of the city center of Cork in an area locally known as Farmers Cross.

Operator

From 1961, Cork airport was managed and run by the Department of Transport and Power, which is now known as the Department of Transport. On April 1, 1969, Aer Rianta took control over Cork and Shannon Airports, and the assets of both airports were then transferred to the company just under the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act, 1998. The name of Aer Rianta was later changed to the Dublin Airport Authority (shorty referred to as DAA) under the State Airports Act 2004, which besides that, also created the Cork Airport Authority, along with the Shannon Airport Authority.

Capacity

According to the Annual Passenger Traffic statistics of Cork Airport, passenger numbers have been increased each year during the ten years between the years 1998 and 2008 by an average of around 14.8% each annum from approximately 1.3 million passengers to over 3.2 million passengers. Later, the passenger numbers fell during the seven years to just below 2.1 million passengers in 2015. One year then, in 2016, ORK airport passenger numbers began to grow with a year-on-year increase of around 7.7% to 2.23 million air travelers. According to the statistics of 2017, this number rose again to 2.30 million air travelers, which increased during 2018 by 4% to about 2.4 million passengers.

History

Cork Airport was founded in 1957 as the Government of Ireland agreed to build an airport for the whole region of Cork. After considering many sites and lands in the area, it was decided that the airport in the city of Cork should be built at the site of Ballygarvan. Later, tenders were invited for the construction and design of the airport in late 1959s at an estimated cost of £1 million. Officially, the first airport of the city of Cork was opened on October 16, 1961. The airport provided flights for four days earlier by the Aer Lingus airlines and Cambrian Airways. The first manager of Cork Airport was Vincent Fanning. In its first year, the ORK airport handled around 10,172 passengers that were too close to the average passenger traffic numbers processed per day at the ORK airport in 2007. Throughout the year 1960, the ORK airport expanded and renovated with the arrivals lounge and added more advanced aircraft, facilities, and more destinations.