THE number of Dutch visitors to West Cork could be significantly down next season, following the announcement that Aer Lingus is discontinuing its popular Cork to Amsterdam route.
While the Dutch airline KLM operates a similar service between the two cities, those who regularly use the Aer Lingus route into Cork claim that KLM flights are significantly more expensive, which may deter a lot of Dutch tourists from coming to Cork, and West Cork in particular.
Colm O’Flynn, who lives in Alkmaar, north of Amsterdam, told The Southern Star that the scrapping of the Aer Lingus route is will hugely inconvenience him as he travels on that flight four times a year with his wife.
‘We usually fly into Cork, visit family and then head around West Cork and travel to festivals. We booked a flight for next May on December 9th and then I got an email on December 12th to say the route was cancelled,’ said Colm.
‘I actually thought it was a joke first. It makes no sense whatsoever. It was so convenient. I checked their website and there was still no mention of the route being cancelled. I decided to compare a return trip with KLM and it is significantly more expensive.’
Colm said the Aer Lingus route was very competitive, provided they booked in advance.
‘We are actually going to the Baltimore Fiddle Fair next May and have booked our accommodation, but we now have to fly to Dublin and get a bus down to Cork. Obviously, it would be so much easier to fly into Cork.’
He believes the high costs of KLM flights to Cork could deter many Dutch tourists from flying into Cork with connections in West Cork. There is also a significant number of Dutch nationals living in West Cork, who will now find the cost of returning home significantly higher than before.
Eileen O’Shea from the Bantry Tourism Office told The Southern Star that people are perplexed that this route has been pulled by Aer Lingus.
‘This is a much used route and we get a substantial amount of Dutch tourists coming here all year round for activities like walking, cycling and hiking. People are amazed that Aer Lingus is pulling this popular route,’ she said.
‘We are so dependent on tourism and pulling a route into Cork doesn’t help all those involved in tourism.’
For the third quarter of last year, the Amsterdam Cork flight was the fifth most popular with 29,154 passengers arriving into Cork Airport.
A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said the service between Cork and Amsterdam will be discontinued from March 17th.
‘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.’
