Aer Lingus continued its aggressive regional expansion by unveiling two new European routes from Cork Airport—Nice (France) and Santiago de Compostela (Spain)—along with a year-round extension of its Prague service and extra weekly flights to Glasgow. The announcements, made on 23 February, mean the airline has rolled out six new Cork routes in 12 months, capitalising on record traffic of 3.46 million passengers in 2025. Flights to Nice launch in May, while the Galicia connection begins in June, tapping growing outbound leisure demand and the enduring popularity of the Camino de Santiago with Irish walkers. Glasgow services, operated by Emerald Airlines under the Aer Lingus Regional banner, rise from four to six per week, catering to business commuters and the sizable Irish diaspora in Scotland.
![Aer Lingus adds Nice and Santiago routes from Cork and ups Glasgow frequency]()
Whether staff are arranging business trips to the French Riviera or pilgrimages across northern Spain, VisaHQ’s Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) can streamline any visa or travel-document requirements in minutes. Its digital platform lets travellers check entry rules for France, Spain and dozens of other countries, complete online applications and receive real-time status alerts—saving HR teams time and avoiding last-minute surprises.
Cork Airport is midway through a €200 million upgrade that will lift capacity past five million passengers a year, including an expanded security hall and new boarding gates. Airport management predicts the summer schedule will inject an additional €45 million into the south-west economy through tourism and trade links. For mobility managers, the extra frequencies provide more same-day return options between Munster and the UK, while the direct Nice link offers a convenient gateway to the French tech corridor around Sophia Antipolis. HR teams should update travel-policy inventories to include the forthcoming services and monitor introductory fares. The move underlines Aer Lingus’s strategy of deepening point-to-point traffic outside Dublin while feeding its long-haul network via seasonal spikes. Industry analysts say Cork’s catchment is now large enough to support limited transatlantic flights once its runway works complete in late 2027.
Whether staff are arranging business trips to the French Riviera or pilgrimages across northern Spain, VisaHQ’s Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) can streamline any visa or travel-document requirements in minutes. Its digital platform lets travellers check entry rules for France, Spain and dozens of other countries, complete online applications and receive real-time status alerts—saving HR teams time and avoiding last-minute surprises.
Cork Airport is midway through a €200 million upgrade that will lift capacity past five million passengers a year, including an expanded security hall and new boarding gates. Airport management predicts the summer schedule will inject an additional €45 million into the south-west economy through tourism and trade links. For mobility managers, the extra frequencies provide more same-day return options between Munster and the UK, while the direct Nice link offers a convenient gateway to the French tech corridor around Sophia Antipolis. HR teams should update travel-policy inventories to include the forthcoming services and monitor introductory fares. The move underlines Aer Lingus’s strategy of deepening point-to-point traffic outside Dublin while feeding its long-haul network via seasonal spikes. Industry analysts say Cork’s catchment is now large enough to support limited transatlantic flights once its runway works complete in late 2027.
