Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Cork Airport, ICAO code EICK, lies at Farmers Cross south of Cork City and is the Republic of Ireland's second-busiest airport after Dublin. It offers a full ATC service with two runways, one equipped with ILS, making it a well-equipped destination for visiting pilots on cross-country flights around Munster.
Cork Airport serves Cork, the largest city in the province of Munster, and is the second-busiest international airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and ahead of Shannon. It sits at an elevation of 476 feet and is a full commercial aerodrome with an instrument landing system, giving simulator pilots a realistic mix of airline traffic and instrument procedures to work around when planning a visit.
The airport lies about 6.5 kilometres south of Cork City centre in an area known as Farmers Cross, on a site at Ballygarvan chosen after a survey of possible locations in the late 1950s. It is served by approach, tower and ground positions, indicating that arriving and departing traffic operates within controlled airspace under a full air traffic control service.
Cork has two physical runways. The main runway, 16/34, is 6,973 to 6,977 feet long, has a hard surface, is lit, and is equipped with an ILS on both alignments. The secondary runway, 07/25, is 4,269 to 4,274 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, but without an instrument landing system.
Pilots can expect to work Cork Approach on 119.9 MHz, the ATIS on 120.925 MHz, Ground on 121.85 MHz and Tower on 119.3 MHz. An ILS is available on runway 16/34 for instrument approaches.
The Irish government agreed in principle in 1957 to build an airport for Cork, and after considering several sites the choice fell on Ballygarvan. Tenders for construction were invited in 1959 at an estimated cost of £1 million, and the airport was officially opened on 12 October 1961. In its first year of operation it handled 10,172 passengers, roughly the number the airport would later handle in a single day. The 1960s brought steady growth and more advanced aircraft, culminating in the arrival of the airport's first jet, a British Overseas Airways Corporation Comet, on 29 March 1964. Scheduled services to London Gatwick and a new Aer Lingus domestic commuter route to Dublin followed, and on 8 June 1987 Ryanair began operations at Cork, a milestone in the airport's later growth into a major low-cost hub.
Cork Airport continues to operate as Ireland's second-busiest international airport, handling scheduled airline services alongside general aviation movements, with full approach, tower and ground air traffic control and an ILS-equipped main runway supporting operations in a range of weather conditions.
