‘Record passenger numbers through Cork and Dublin airports in July’ read the headline.

If you own a B&B, hotel, or a restaurant, you might rub your palms together gleefully at the thought of more prospective customers landing at Cork Airport and potentially coming through your door.

But if you are someone who lives in the shadow of Cork Airport’s flight paths and is disturbed by the roaring noise of departing aircraft day and night, it is a headline that will make your stomach drop.

The Irish tourism sector is worth more than €7 billion to the national economy and in 2023 overseas visitors contributed around €635 million to the Cork region. Cork Airport recorded over three million passengers in 2024.

Tourism is a vital part of cities, towns, and villages around the country. But when expanding passenger numbers at Dublin and Cork’s airports seems to be the core mission of the DAA (which runs Cork and Dublin airport),, how much say do residents have about the inevitable disruptive noise more flights would bring?

At a time when over-tourism sparks protests in holiday hotspots around Europe, it raises the question - when is enough?

The beauty of Cork Airport is in its small size - you can get in and out with ease and fly to an impressive array of destinations without the torturous delays and logistics of bigger airports.

So how can Cork Airport reconcile the needs of Corkonians who want to live in peace with the relentless pursuit of increased passenger numbers?

Recent data from the DAA shows a 15% rise in........

© Evening Echo