It is 6.5 km (4.0 mi) south of Cork City centre,[1] in an area known as Farmers Cross.

The airport was officially opened on 16 October 1961, following proving flights four days earlier by Aer Lingus and Cambrian Airways.

The first jet, a British Overseas Airways Corporation Comet, landed at Cork Airport on 29 March 1964.

[9] A Great Southern Hotel was opened on the airport grounds during 2001,[10] and plans were drawn up for the construction of a new terminal building and ancillary capital investment works at an estimated cost of €140 million.

The new terminal was completed with four fixed links to the main building, and was designed to accommodate additional airbridges in future or if needed.

In late April 2008, Cork Airport Authority chairman, Joe Gantly, announced his resignation effective from the end of July 2008.

[9] The Irish Aviation Authority completed a new control tower 1 km from the old terminal to the west of the main runway.

Construction began in August 2007 and was completed in June 2008 but it took until mid October 2009 to get all the new systems tested and working.

The man drove erratically on the airport taxiway, driving underneath a stationary Thomas Cook aircraft at high speed.

[18] In 2016, Cork Airport won the Corporate Campaign of the Year Prize at the EU Public Affairs Awards (EuroPAwards) in Brussels, primarily for its efforts to secure a direct transatlantic route.

[20] The campaign was launched following a number of incidents involving drones or aircraft on approach or departure from aerodromes throughout Europe.

[24][25] With an elevation of 153 m (502 ft) above sea level, Cork Airport is sometimes prone to fog and a low cloud ceiling.

The Instrument landing system has been upgraded to Category II, and together with a 305 m (1,001 ft) extension of the main runway has significantly reduced the number of diversions.

The length of the main runway dictates that the airport cannot handle fully laden large widebody aircraft.

Large wide-bodied aircraft do visit Cork Airport on an irregular basis, for example to operate ad-hoc charter services for flights to sporting events such as those of the Munster Rugby team.

[citation needed] The main terminal at Cork Airport contains several shopping and eating facilities both before and after the security screening area, a bureau de change kiosk and ATM (cash machine) and a business lounge operated by Swissport.

[35][36] In November 2020, it was announced that Cork Airport was bringing forward its plans to rebuild and refurbish its main runway from Q4 2022/Q1 2023 to Q3 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on its traffic.

Cork Airport has a number of services supporting general aviation flying, and also serves business jets.

[80][9] As of 2017[update], there were in excess of 50 tenant companies in the business park, including Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Amazon, IBM, BNY Mellon, Nuix, McKesson and Aviva.

There are multiple Bus Éireann routes connecting the airport to Kent Station via the city centre.

The R600 connects the airport to the port town of Kinsale, which forms part of the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route.