Aer Lingus to end Cork to Amsterdam route after 26 years
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Aer Lingus is to end its direct flight between Cork and Amsterdam in March.
The route is one of the longest operating from Cork having been first established in 1998. Aer Lingus currently operates one or two flights per day between Sunday and Friday each week.
It is understood competition on the route since 2020 from Dutch airline KLM is behind the decision with the capacity from Aer Lingus moving to new routes announced this week to Bordeaux and Bilbao in Summer 2025. Both airlines operated daily flights at 6am from Cork to Schiphol Airport.
Aer Lingus previously had a codesharing arrangement with KLM for long-haul connections out of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. However, KLM began their own direct flights to Cork in 2020 increasing to two flights per day in 2021. Officials within DAA, the operator of Cork and Dublin airports are hopeful KLM will expand its service to three flights per day next year or add a larger capacity aircraft.
In a statement to the , the airline confirmed the service will be discontinued from St Patrick's Day, March 17. "This decision was made after a thorough review of our route network and in response to changing travel demands. Aer Lingus remains deeply committed to Cork and our valued customers in the south of Ireland. In line with this commitment, we have launched two new summer routes from Cork Airport to Bilbao and Bordeaux," Aer Lingus said.
The Amsterdam route is the third busiest out of Cork behind London Heathrow and London Stansted. Data from the Central Statistics Office shows Cork to Amsterdam grew strongly post-covid jumping from just under 160,000 passengers to and from both cities in 2019 to more than 191,000 in 2022 and more than 208,000 last year.
The decision by Aer Lingus cuts the number of year-round flights it operates from Cork to just six; London-Heathrow, Malaga, Lanzarote and Tenerife with Aer Lingus Regional operating flights from Cork to Bristol and Glasgow. The airline will operate seven seasonal routes to Bilbao, Lyon, Munich, Faro, Bordeaux, Dubrovnik and Mallorca.
In a statement, Cork Airport said Aer Lingus has notified them that took the commercial decision to cease operating its Cork - Amsterdam Schiphol service in late March. "We would like to thank Aer Lingus for their 26 years of continual service on this route," the airport said. "Meanwhile, direct connectivity with Amsterdam Schiphol will be maintained with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offering twice-daily services to Amsterdam, with the ability to connect onwards to over 150 destinations."
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