Cork Airport confirmed today that Lufthansa will resume its Frankfurt-Cork service on June 1.
The airport said after the closure of Lufthansa’s regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline last month and the grounding of 27 aircraft, engagement immediately began on securing the restoration of the service from Cork to Frankfurt which had operated four times a week.
From June 1, Lufthansa will operate the Frankfurt to Cork service every Monday and Friday.
The service will operate using a larger Airbus A319 aircraft, with a seat capacity of 138 compared with Lufthansa Cityline’s 90-seater aircraft.
Cork Airport noted that Germany is Ireland’s third-largest source market for inbound tourism, and the resumption of the Frankfurt route maintains key access for German holidaymakers when visiting the South of Ireland.
Head of Aviation Business Development & Communications at Cork Airport Tara Finn said the airport had been hugely disappointed with the closure of Lufthansa Cityline and the grounding of 27 aircraft affecting many European cities, including Cork.
“On that basis, it is a testament to the strength of the South of Ireland market that Lufthansa (mainline) have elected to recommence the service using a different, larger aircraft type. We are delighted to be back connecting to Frankfurt from June onwards,” she said.
Lufthansa on April 22 said it was removing a total of 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule until October in an effort to offset the higher cost of jet fuel. It said this equates to a cut of less than 1% in its group capacity.
The cuts at the time included its operations from Cork.
