Dublin Airport is set to formally exceed its 32 million passenger mark in December, its operator Daa has said.
The news comes a day after the High Court ordered a pause on the Irish Aviation Authority’s directive to reduce seat capacity at Dublin during next summer in a bid to keep the hub within its controversial current annual cap limitations.
The December update comes as part of Daa’s latest passenger traffic updates from both Dublin and Cork airports.
The update shows that Cork and Dublin, combined, continued their record breaking streak in October – welcoming a total of 3.1 million passengers through their terminals.
According to daa, the airports both, individually, saw their busiest October ever; with combined passenger volumes up 2% on the same month last year.
Inward tourism helped boost numbers. The annual Cork Jazz Festival attracted people in droves to the south of Ireland, while sporting events like the Leinster versus Lions rugby match and the Dublin Marathon attracted spectators and runners from all over the world to the capital. Leaving the country was popular too, with record numbers travelling during the October bank holiday period from both Cork and Dublin airports.
Cork Airport enjoyed another stellar month in October as it welcomed 260,000 passengers, 2% more than October 2023, and celebrated new routes and services. SunExpress announced it would start operating from Cork in summer 2025, offering a direct service to Izmir in Turkey for the first time and becoming the ninth scheduled carrier to operate at Cork Airport. Aer Lingus Regional and Ryanair also added to their operations at Cork.
Some 2.9 million passengers went through the terminal doors of Dublin Airport last month, making it the busiest October ever in Dublin Airport’s 84-year history. A total of 28.7 million passengers have passed through the doors of Dublin Airport so far in 2024, an increase of 5% on the same period in 2023.
The autumn outlook is dampened due to airlines operating at Dublin already reducing the scale of their operations due to uncertainty related to the cap. However, passenger numbers are expected to be higher than in 2023 and daa anticipates exceeding the 32 million during the month of December.
Commenting, daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said: “Demand to get on and off our island shows no sign of dropping, with Cork and Dublin airports welcoming unprecedented numbers of passengers every month this year. The trend continued in October, with our staff in Cork and Dublin working hard to get millions of passengers on their way with a smile, whether here for the Cork jazz, the Dublin Marathon or heading overseas.
“Ireland is not alone in seeing a resurgence of air travel. Across the water, UK airports ranging from Heathrow to Gatwick to Manchester are also shattering previous passenger records and planning to grow further. Meanwhile, Ireland, a nation so celebrated for aviation and promising a hundred thousand welcomes, is reducing growth at its key gateway to the world. We need to protect Irish jobs, connectivity and economic prosperity, but every day we hear new concerns from impacted people, ranging from tourism businesses worried about falling footfall or sports fans and organisations worried about getting to Ireland for events that put us on the map.
“Even though daa wants to facilitate and support this demand, we are obliged to do our utmost to comply with the cap, despite not controlling the slot process. It’s far from ideal that we are caught in this quagmire while international airports are surging ahead with their growth plans and doing their best to attract airlines and routes away from Ireland. We welcome all efforts to promote more joined-up thinking in both the planning system and strategic infrastructure development so our island nation can thrive.”
