Airport management warns that thousands of Irish tourism jobs may be at risk if the government does not adopt new policies on aviation and travel

Cork Airport Management has warned that thousands of Irish tourism jobs could be in jeopardy if the government does not adopt new aviation and travel policies within the next eight weeks.

The impact of Covid-19 is believed to lead to such a situation, and the management added that the government’s decisions will determine how the airlines prepare for the tourism season next year.

Cork Airport directly and indirectly supports 12,180 workers and contributes €904 million annually to the economy of the southern region.

The board of Visit Cork was told earlier that the number of passengers at Ireland’s second-largest airport had dropped by more than 95% during the Covid period.

Management commented that this would have a huge impact on finances, and that passenger numbers are not expected to reach the 2019 level until 2024.

Management said the pandemic had wiped out passenger growth over the past five years and therefore urgently needed state support as the airport is facing a €20 million operating loss.

Management had earlier predicted that it would handle 2.7 million passengers in 2020, but due to the lockdown it was reduced to two London services only from April to June.

But the latest figures indicate that the airport will handle just 600,000 passengers for the entire year.

The Visit Cork board reminded that the government’s decision in the coming weeks will play an important role in the survival of the airport, and that Cork Airport faces a number of costly capital projects in the coming years.

Projects include a hold baggage screening system and essential runway reconstruction and remediation plan. The board said it expects them to cost millions of euros and could not be funded without state support.

The existing regulatory structure would not authorize the relevant Airport Authority (DAA) to finance the capital projects of Cork Airport and that they would not be able to provide independent funding due to Cork’s financial failure, the board said.

The Management said that without these core projects, the airport would probably not be able to operate in the years ahead and would seek access to the State’s regional airport capital expenditure scheme.

Airports in Ireland want to replace sending passengers to quarantine with a pre-flight Covid-19 testing program.

All passengers arriving in the U.S. state from another state or country will arrive with a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure, and a new system in Alaska will be able to upload it to a travel portal. Airport officials want Ireland to follow the same measures.