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• New airline, new country, and new route for Cork Airport for summer 2025.
• New summer service to İzmir will operate twice-weekly (Wednesday, Saturday) from May to October 2025.
• Strong market demand for a direct Turkish route led to the new service being secured.
• Located on the Aegean coastline, İzmir is Türkiye’s third-largest city and provides access to popular sun holiday resorts like Kusadasi, Çeşme and cultural attractions such as Ephesus.
• Voted as “Europe’s Best Leisure Airline” in 2023 and 2024 and “World’s Best Leisure Airline” in 2022, SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, will be the ninth carrier to operate at Cork Airport during the 2025 summer season. 

Cork Airport has announced today that Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines joint venture carrier, SunExpress Airlines, will operate a new, twice-weekly service to İzmir, Türkiye as part of the 2025 Summer Schedule, commencing on May 31 and operating through October.

The new service follows strong demand for a direct Turkish route from Cork Airport and will provide even more choice for consumers across the South of Ireland when choosing their next summer holiday.

İzmir, situated on the Aegean coastline is one of Türkiye’s most idyllic and popular holiday destinations. Basking in a warm, pleasant climate all year round where average summer temperatures range between 27°C and 34°C, İzmir and the surrounding North Aegean region is home to popular holiday resorts of Kusadasi and Çeşme, to name but a few.

The region also offers a range of cultural attractions such as Ephesus, an ancient city steeped in history and brimming with architectural marvels, and the nearby House of the Virgin Mary. Izmir also offers many culinary delights, including a wide range of nearby wineries, and was recently added to the MICHELIN Guide’s Turkish map.

SunExpress is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines and provides direct connections between Europe and Türkiye. Voted as “Europe’s Best Leisure Airline” in both 2023 and 2024 and “World’s Best Leisure Airline” in 2022, SunExpress will be the ninth carrier to operate at Cork Airport during the 2025 summer season.

In welcoming the announcement of the new SunExpress service to İzmir, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless TD said:

“I am delighted that SunExpress is launching this new route from Cork Airport. This service will bring increased options for travellers from Cork and the wider region to fly directly to their chosen holiday destinations. Cork Airport is going from strength to strength, and I am confident that the strong growth we’ve seen so far this year at Cork and across our regional airports will continue. I welcome the addition of a new airline and new destination to Cork’s route network, building on recent announcements of other new routes. This is further evidence that demand exists for new services to and from our regional airports. I wholeheartedly believe there is latent demand for further options to fly from airports aside from Dublin airport, indeed two in five people who fly out of Dublin come from outside the greater Dublin areas, so of course they would welcome further choice from Cork and other regional airports, and I am working to expand the connectivity to the regions.”

Tara Finn, Head of Aviation Business Development & Communications

at Cork Airport said:

“I’m thrilled to announce the addition of İzmir to the route network at Cork Airport ahead of next summer. Operated by SunExpress, the addition of a Turkish destination will undoubtedly be a highlight of our extensive range of holiday routes next summer. We have noted strong demand in the market for a direct Turkish route from Cork Airport and I would like to thank SunExpress for establishing this new service.”

Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director 

at Cork Airport added:

“This will be our ninth scheduled carrier to operate out of Cork Airport. It is really fantastic to see a new route, to a new country, operated by a new airline added to our schedule next year. Cork Airport is the fastest growing airport in Ireland with growth of over 10% this year and increasing numbers of people across the South of Ireland are choosing Cork over competing airports for the quality, friendliness, and speed of using our airport.”

Tobias Bracht

, Head of Sales at SunExpress added:

“We are excited to be introducing more choice for consumers and travel agents from the South of Ireland with the launch of the first service from Cork to Türkiye. With our excellent value fares, choice of travel options, and welcoming service, we are confident that SunExpress will quickly prove popular with passengers flying from Cork.”