Cork Airport Wins World Routes 2018 Marketing Award
Cork Airport has won the prestigious World Routes 2018 Marketing Award, a global accolade recognising excellence in aviation marketing. Cork was the winner in the Best Airport Under 4 Million Passengers category at the World Routes conference in Guangzhou, China.
Cork was congratulated for its third consecutive year of growth. 2017 saw the launch of the airport’s first ever intercontinental route, with a new year-round Norwegian service to Boston/Providence. Norwegian’s CEO Bjorn Kjos said that the strong marketing executed by Cork Airport for both its inbound and outbound markets has since ensured the route’s success.
Norwegian launched the first Transatlantic service from Cork during 2017. Photo by Gabriel Desmond.
On the announcement, Managing Director at Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy said “We are delighted that Cork Airport has won the World Routes Marketing Award. The team at Cork Airport is absolutely delighted, especially for our Head of Aviation Marketing Daragh Hanratty. This award is a huge testament to our growth development over the past three years at Cork Airport, as we continually strive for excellence, new routes and expansion.”
Cork saw off competition from four other airports in the Under 4 Million Passengers category, which included Shannon Airport; Billund Airport, Denmark; London Southend Airport; and Myrtle Beach International Airport, South Carolina, USA.
Over 2.4 million passengers will pass through Cork Airport this year. The airport is forecasting growth of 4% this year, flying to destinations across the UK, continental Europe and a direct transatlantic service to the USA (Boston Providence) with Norwegian.
In recent weeks, Cork Airport has welcomed several route announcements, including four new Ryanair services from Cork to Budapest, Malta, London Luton and Poznań, Poland. Ryanair is also extending its summer service from Cork to Faro into the winter season making it a year-round service.
Further route announcements this year for Cork Airport include a new year-round Cork to Lisbon route from Aer Lingus, commencing October 26, 2018. It will operate twice-weekly on Mondays and Fridays. Air France is also operating a daily service connecting Cork to Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
It was also good news for Shannon Airport who were highly commended in same Under 4 Million Passenger category while Dublin Airport was also high commended in the 20-50 million passenger category. Brussels Airport came first in that category.
Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, Cork Airport; Cindy Hugon-Duprat, Aviation Marketing Analyst, Cork Airport; Daragh Hanratty, Head of Aviation Marketing, Cork Airport and Steven Small, Brand Director, Routes
Overall winner
Brussels Airport
Individual Winner
Gabriel Schmilovich, Vueling
Airport under 4 million passengers
Winner: Cork Airport
Highly commended: Shannon Airport
Airport 4-20 million passengers
Winner: Albrecht Dürer Airport Nürnberg
Highly commended: Prague Airport
Airport 20-50 million passengers
Winner: Brussels Airport
Highly commended: Dublin Airport
Airport Over 50 million passengers
Winner: Singapore Changi Airport
Highly commended: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Destination marketing
Winner: Canary Islands Tourist Board – Promotur
Highly commended: Cape Town Air
The judges this year were
- Marco Picardi, Chief of Strategy and Planning, Air Italy
- Michael Ambs, Head of Airport and Tourist Board Relations, Norwegian
- David Neill, Head of Planning, Jet2.com
- Matthew Yarrow, Head of Network Planning, Virgin Australia
- Seb Mackinnon, Head of Airport Partnerships, Jetstar Group
- Alexander Featherstone , VP Network Planning, Etihad Airways
- Eric Bordeleau, Director Network Planning, Air Canada
- Pablo Madriñan Gonzalez, Head of Network Strategy, LATAM Airlines Group
- Ben Weidmann, Head of Network Development, Thomas Cook Airlines Group
- Robert Ludera, Director Network Planning & Scheduling, LOT Polish Airlines
- Jay L Lingeswara, Deputy Director, VietJet Air
About the Author
Mark Dwyer Mark is an airline pilot by profession flying the Boeing 737 for a major European airline. In addition he is also a Type Rating Instructor on the B737. Outside of commercial flying Mark enjoys flying light aircraft from the smallest 3 Axis microlights up to heavier singles. He also instructs on them including tailwheel differences training and is a UK CAA Examiner. He also flies the Chipmunk for the Irish Historic Flight Foundation (IHFF). Mark became the Chairman of the National Microlight Association of Ireland (NMAI) in 2013 and has overseen a massive growth in the organisation. In this role he has worked at local and national levels. In 2015, Mark won ‘Upcoming Aviation Professional Award’ at the Aviation Industry Awards sponsored by the IAA. Mark launched this website back in 2002 while always managing the website, he has also been Editor and Deputy Editor of FlyingInIreland Magazine from 2005 to 2015.
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