The Republic of Ireland government has granted the hub €10m to carry out the works which are set to be completed by November

Cork Airport has awarded Colas Limited – a design, maintenance and construction firm of transport infrastructure – with the contract to rebuild its main runway.

The Republic of Ireland government has also granted the site €10m (£8.5m) in funding towards the project, with further financial support from the hub’s parent company, daa.

It is expected that around 250 construction and supply jobs will be created because of the scheme. Mobilisation and preparatory works are planned to begin immediately and will take place at night.

“These works are necessary to ensure that the main runway at Cork Airport continues to meet and exceed strict national and international regulations governing the operation and specification of runways at major airports and position us well for the future,” said Niall MacCarthy, managing director at Cork Airport. “With our physical infrastructure rebuilt, we are fully committed to rebuilding our business and connectivity and making Cork Airport once again the second largest airport in the state and connecting the South of Ireland with the world.”

Gearoid Lohan, CEO of Colas Ireland, added: “The scale of the project, from start to finish cannot be underestimated involving detailed planning and logistics - 3,000 truckloads of asphalt, 500 maintenance hole pits to be built, 140 kilometres of electrical cable and 60 kilometres of cable duct and drains to be laid. This is a major project, which has a time-sensitive duration and is essential to the economy of the South of Ireland.”

From September 13, the main works are set to be carried out 24/7 over a ten-week time frame.

The runway’s completion date is November 22, ahead of the Christmas period.

Hildegarde Naughton, minister of state at the Department of Transport, believes the renovation “will serve as a key strategic asset for Cork and the entire region over the next 20 years”.

He goes further to explain that the airport needs to close for the ten-week duration to prevent “less long-term impacts for airlines and passengers”.

More than €40m (£34m) is being invested into the airport between 2020 to 2022 to upgrade its infrastructure. This includes updating the air strip, electric substation and hold baggage security screening software.

Planning and design began last year, with funding provided by the government due to the financial difficulties occurring from the impact of Covid-19.

This reconstruction programme is set to be the fastest project undertaken in the region over the last few years.

According to the airport, its runway usually facilitates more than 22,000 commercial aircraft movements each year.

In 2019, the base served 2.6m passengers – an 8% rise compared to the year before. This enabled it to be named the Republic of Ireland’s second largest hub.