Prior to the pandemic Dublin and Cork airports would have been served by 50 airlines, that dropped to seven airlines and the airports were down to 800 passengers per day, he said.
Mr Philips said that the airport experience will be a different experience for passengers. “When you come to the terminal you’ll have to be wearing a face mask, you can’t be accompanied into the terminal because of social distancing requirements, there’ll be one way traffic routes through check in, when you get to security, it will unfortunately be a slower process because of the social distancing requirements.
The advice about the time to arrive before a flight remains the same, he said, 90 minutes before a short haul flight, but as traffic builds that could change. People accompanying passengers will not be allowed into the terminal. The same goes for meeting people arriving in the country. “I think people understand this is beyond our control and people have been very good willed and good natured about it.”