Airport operator daa, which runs both airports, announced the scheme today hoping to avoid any situation where airlines move aircraft from Dublin to airports in other countries.

Under Dublin Airport’s planning permission, it is limited to managing 32m passengers a year. Last year, it came close to breaching that limit, with a final reported tally of 31.9m passengers passing through the terminal which means it cannot grow further. It has submitted a planning application seeking to increase the cap but the process will take a number of months, if not years.

Cork Airport saw passenger numbers reach 2.8m last year with the airport expecting to breach the three million mark this year. Publishing a report on the economic impact that Cork Airport has on the wider economy, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said Dublin Airport is restricted while Cork has the ambition and the capacity to grow to five million passengers per year. He said that for the next 30 months airlines that move routes and traffic from Dublin to Cork will be offered lower charges to keep the aircraft in the country and have already begun talks with airlines about the incentive scheme.

"They are absolutely interested but it will take a while," he said. "It's not a quick thing. They are big assets to move but with the conversations we have started already I think the airlines will be positive as we get closer to next year, and they see that they may not and definitely all won't get what they want at Dublin.

"It's really, really important that Irish aviation doesn't lose. I'd rather aircraft relocate to Shannon, to Kerry anywhere than relocate to airports in the UK or in the EU because they will be very hard to get back," Mr Jacobs said.

Ryanair has four aircraft based in Cork while Aer Lingus has three. Up to 50 routes are operated to and from Cork by these and other airlines. While the daa has not set a specific target, it is understood that an extra five aircraft relocating to Cork could add an extra million passengers through the terminal. The scheme is targeted at airlines operating existing routes from Dublin. Those agreeing to move the route to Cork will see air charges dropped to near zero for the 30-month period.

"We are determined to grow Cork Airport. We want to grow Dublin by 25%, but we want to grow Cork by 40%. We see huge potential here and Ireland is a very fast-growing country. We are going to need bigger airports. We want to add new routes to and from Cork."

The economic analysis carried out by InterVISTAS Consulting found that day-to-day operational activities at Cork Airport directly supported 2,330 jobs in companies across the airport campus. An additional 10,320 jobs stemmed from the indirect, induced, and catalytic impacts of the airport’s operations.