€10 million in Exchequer funding was announced for the project today.

More than 250 construction jobs will be created during a major runway reconstruction at Cork Airport, which will see all travel halted for 10 weeks from September 13th.

The Airport will reopen on November 22nd, 2021, just in time for the busy Christmas season.

“By closing the airport, this very significant project can be delivered in a quicker time, in a safer environment and with less long-term impacts on airlines and passengers,” said Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton, who visited the airport today.

“Following the 10-week closure period, the airport will be in a position to reopen in good time for Christmas and will enable the airport to operate in an unrestricted way in 2022.”

The reconstruction of Cork Airport’s main runway will be the fastest large-scale construction project undertaken in the State in recent years – 12 months from funding approval to the completion of the main works.

The main construction contract has been awarded to Colas Limited, part of the International Colas Group, a leader in the field in the design, maintenance and construction of transport infrastructure.

“We are delighted to award this significant runway reconstruction contract to Colas.” added Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director at Cork Airport.

“This project forms part of a total investment and upgrade programme of €40 million between 2020 and 2022 so that the infrastructure at Cork Airport is positioned for recovery post-COVID-19. We are very grateful to the Irish Government for the significant financial support to get this project underway and completed.”

Cork Airport remains open for summer traffic serving Ryanair, Aer Lingus, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss, and Air France routes until close of business Sunday, September 12th, 2021.