There are fears of potential travel chaos at Irish airports over the busy summer period if incidents like this week's closure of Cork's airspace for seven hours are repeated. But tensions with AirNav Ireland over staffing levels and pension entitlements meant the position could not be filled, they said. A meeting was to take place between AirNav Ireland and the ATC’s union Fórsa on Friday through the Internal Dispute Resolution Board (IDRB). AirNav Ireland told the Irish Examiner this week that safety is the company's number one priority. Tom Randles, managing director of Barter's Travelnet in Cork, and president of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), said the ITAA is closely monitoring the situation.

Source: Irish Examiner February 14, 2026 16:30 UTC