24 Oct 2024
New service to Izmir, Türkiye announced by Cork Airport for 2025
New airline, new country, and new service for Cork Airport for summer 2025
Cork Airport has announced that SunExpress Airlines, will operate a new, twice-weekly service to İzmir, Türkiye as part of the 2025 Summer Schedule, commencing on May 31.
The new service follows strong demand for a direct Turkish route from Cork Airport. It will provide even more choice for consumers across the South of Ireland when choosing their next summer holiday.
İzmir, situated on the Aegean coastline is one of Türkiye’s most idyllic and popular holiday destinations. Basking in a warm, pleasant climate all year round where average summer temperatures range between 27°C and 34°C, İzmir is home to popular holiday resorts of Kusadasi and Çeşme, to name but a few.
The region offers a range of cultural attractions such as Ephesus, an ancient city steeped in history and brimming with architectural marvels, and the nearby House of the Virgin Mary. Izmir also offers many culinary delights, including nearby wineries, and was recently added to the MICHELIN Guide’s Turkish map.
SunExpress is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines and provides direct connections between Europe and Türkiye. The carrier was voted “Europe’s Best Leisure Airline” in both 2023 and 2024 and “World’s Best Leisure Airline” in 2022.
“I am delighted that SunExpress is launching this new route from Cork Airport. This service will bring increased options for travellers from Cork and the wider region to fly directly to their chosen holiday destinations. Cork Airport is going from strength to strength, and I am confident that the strong growth we’ve seen so far this year at Cork and across our regional airports will continue. I welcome the addition of a new airline and new destination to Cork’s route network, building on recent announcements of other new routes. This is further evidence that demand exists for new services to and from our regional airports. I wholeheartedly believe there is latent demand for further options to fly from airports aside from Dublin airport, indeed two in five people who fly out of Dublin come from outside the greater Dublin areas, so of course they would welcome further choice from Cork and other regional airports, and I am working to expand the connectivity to the regions.”
Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless TD
“I’m thrilled to announce the addition of İzmir to the route network at Cork Airport ahead of next summer. Operated by SunExpress, the addition of a Turkish destination will undoubtedly be a highlight of our extensive range of holiday routes next summer. We have noted strong demand in the market for a direct Turkish route from Cork Airport and I would like to thank SunExpress for establishing this new service.”
Tara Finn, Head of Aviation Business Development & Communications at Cork Airport
“This will be our ninth scheduled carrier to operate out of Cork Airport. It is really fantastic to see a new route, to a new country, operated by a new airline added to our schedule next year. Cork Airport is the fastest growing airport in Ireland with growth of over 10% this year and increasing numbers of people across the South of Ireland are choosing Cork over competing airports for the quality, friendliness, and speed of using our airport.”
Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport
Excitement builds for Cork Jazz bank holiday weekend as Cork Airport is set to welcome over 55,000 passengers
Cork Airport will welcome over 55,000 passengers this October Bank Holiday weekend. Tens of thousands touchdown on Leeside to celebrate the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. The busiest day of the bank holiday weekend will be Friday, October 25th. Overall passenger traffic is expected to be 4% higher than the same period last year.
With the Festival in its 46th year, Cork Airport is proud to be an official Festival Partner to the biggest music event on Cork’s cultural calendar. Throughout the last 46 years, Cork Airport has been the international gateway to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. It welcomes many famous artists and performers from across the world. Over the coming days, tens of thousands of festivalgoers will jet in from the UK, continental Europe and further afield.
This weekend also marks the start of the winter schedule at Cork Airport and between now and late March 2025, over 1.35 million seats will be on sale to destinations across the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, and The Netherlands. Cork Airport is Ireland’s fastest-growing airport and this winter, there will be 100,000 more seats will be on sale compared to the last year’s winter season. Ryanair will extend its Brussels Charleroi service to a year-round operation and Aer Lingus Regional commence a new, four-times weekly service to Glasgow.
Tickets are on sale at www.guinnesscorkjazz.com, which is packed with all the information and latest news that festival goers need. Hurry before you miss out! Or follow the festival on @guinnesscorkjazz #GuinnessCorkJazz. The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is supported by Diageo, Fáilte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork Airport. For more on the festival or to book tickets see GuinnessJazzfestival.com.
To find out more about Living, Working, Studying and Investing in Cork visit WeareCork.ie.