Flights from Bristol Airport to the Irish city of Cork are to start next month – the latest new route to be added to its destination board as it continues to recover strongly from the impact of the pandemic.
The six-times-a-week service will be operated by Emerald Airlines, the exclusive operator of national flag carrier Aer Lingus’s regional services, which already operating flights between Bristol and Dublin seven days a week. 
Irish budget airline Ryanair flies to Dublin and Knock from Bristol.
Emerald Airlines head of commercial Ciarán Smith said the service to Cork, pictured, was much anticipated and would be warmly welcomed by passengers travelling for business and travel pleasure purposes.
“With more flights and more choice for the travelling public, we are progressively bolstering our 2023 schedule, with over 2.5m seats on sale, across 28 routes and 17 destinations in Ireland, UK and Channel Islands,” he said.
Bristol Airport commercial director Rupert Lawrie added: “This partnership further strengthens the air links between the South West of England and Ireland and extends the options available to customers in the region when selecting to fly from their local airport.”
Flights to Cork, the Republic of Ireland’s second largest city, start on 28 April and will operate daily except Saturday. Their introduction follows the launch of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) inaugural service from Bristol to Zurich.
The airport, which has made the fastest recovery from the pandemic of any in the UK, is also to benefit over the next few months from new destinations from its two biggest low-cost airlines Ryanair and easyJet while full-service German flag carrier Lufthansa is to increase frequency on its Frankfurt route.
The airport expects to handle around 9.9m passengers during 2023 – nudging the 10m figure for the first time since 2019.
