Cork Airport has been named 'Best Airport in Europe' by the Airport Council International (ACI).
It received the award at a ceremony in Limassol, Cyprus on Wednesday.
It was named best airport in its category of serving under five million at the event, which was attended by over 400 aviation chief executives and industry leaders.
This is the second win for Cork Airport, having also won its category in 2017.
The awards recognise excellence and achievement across a variety of disciplines and operations.
Managing director Niall MacCarthy says: "I am really thrilled that Cork Airport has been named ACI Europe Best Airport of 2019 in front of an audience of hundreds of our airport peers here at our annual industry event in Cyprus.
"Anyone who uses our Airport at Cork knows we pride ourselves on the smoothness and friendliness of the passenger journey.
"This is all down to the staff based at Cork who work round the clock 365 days of the year, through good weather and bad, to make that journey friendly and easy".
The shortlisted airports (Torino, Aberdeen, Tallinn, Limak Kosovo and London City Airport) were assessed by a panel of aviation expert judges and key institutional stakeholders.
The winner of the Best Airport Award at the @ACI_EUROPE 29th Annual Assembly & Congress in the under 5 million passenger category is @CorkAirport for its support to disabled passengers, strong community engagement & continued development of its network. pic.twitter.com/Vnqv6XLgzU
— Cork Airport (@CorkAirport) June 26, 2019
Cork's win was attributed to its support to passengers with disabilities, its strong community engagement and safety and security indicators - including its drone awareness campaign.
The judges also highlighted the airport's €4m investment in food and drink, promoting local products.
Zero carbon emissions
Meanwhile, Dublin and Cork airports have signed a commitment to become net zero for their carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest.
The collective pledge, signed by 194 airports across 24 countries, was adopted at ACI's annual congress meeting in Cyprus.
daa chief executive Dalton Philips said he was proud to sign the resolution on behalf of Dublin and Cork.
"daa has invested significantly in environmental management in recent years, but we need to do more and committing to net zero emissions is moving up a gear in our efforts," he said.
"Dublin Airport is committed to being carbon neutral by 2020, and Cork Airport is also targeting carbon neutrality in the near term.
"By 2020, Dublin Airport will have reduced its emissions by 33% compared to 2009 levels, while Cork Airport has reduced its energy usage by 44% since 2008".
"We are focused on sustainability across both airports and are introducing more LEV vehicles, switching to LED lighting, reducing our energy and water usage and increasing waste recycling," he added.
At Dublin Airport, a pilot solar farm was opened last year which provides more than half the energy to power its reservoir control system.
Two further solar farms are planned at the airport.
