“It’s quite a significant growth for us,” Air France-KLM general manager for UK and Ireland Jerome Salemi, told the Irish Examiner. “Clearly we see that the trend is very positive for the coming months. It’s a good opportunity for us to increase our capacity and to take that traffic off Aer Lingus.”

Mr Salemi said the Franco-Dutch group also hopes to develop traffic on the route for passengers using Amsterdam as a hub for onward travel. KLM and Air France fly to around 318 destinations and KLM’s intercontinental network expands this summer with San Diego, Guyana and Hyderabad in India added. “The more you add capacity to Amsterdam, the more options you offer to your customers come from Cork,” he said. The Air France-KLM executive said that the company sees scope to increase capacity across its leisure, business, and what it called ‘friends and relatives’ customer segment, noting Cork’s large Brazillian community and highlighting the group’s extensive route schedule to the country.

Mr Salemi said Air France is also looking to develop its service to Paris through Ireland’s southern gateway. Air France resumed its operation from Cork to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Monday March 3, one month earlier than in 2024, and continuing until October 2025. “Starting a month early is a very positive signal. We would like to go year long, but we are taking it in steps, not because we don’t see the potential of the route but more the constraints we have in terms of fleet. But as soon as we can have an aircraft, we’ll put it on for Cork all year long,” he predicted.

Ultimately, the decision on increasing Air France’s Cork-Charles de Gaulle service beyond October will rely on how busy the service proves over the coming months. Load capacity on the group’s services between Cork and Amsterdam and between Cork and Paris were both very positive in 2024, said Mr Salemi, with both routes reaching passenger levels above the significant 80% full threshold.

Cork Airport senior management met with Mr Salemi in Cork this week. “I was impressed by the plan for the future developments of the airport in terms of construction and expansion. Definitely it fits our strategy ... we see the demand.”

Mr Salemi said the group’s low cost carrier Transavia could also be suited to enter the Cork market in the future. Transavia operates out of Orly, the second airport in Paris, and other French cities which could be a future fit for Cork “but for the moment, it’s not part of the plan”.

Air France-KLM is also continuing to assess the viability of services out of Shannon and other Munster airports but these are not currently part of its growth plan. Mr Salemi also noted the ongoing passenger cap at Dublin Airport as “concerning” but said this had not influenced his company’s recent strategy in Dublin or Cork.