Passenger numbers soared to record levels in September at Cork and Dublin airports

Cork Airport’s passenger numbers up 14% in first 9 months.

Every day in September was a 100k+ passenger day at Dublin Airport.

daa welcomes Minister’s action on passenger cap.

A record-breaking summer at Cork and Dublin airports continued in September with a total of 3,667,073 passengers passing through the two airports.

Cork Airport 
Cork Airport welcomed a total of 320,673 passengers in the month, which was 9% higher than the same month last year. Cork Airport remains firmly on track to be Ireland’s fastest growing airport once again this year, with passenger numbers ahead by 14% through the opening nine months of 2025.

September saw the first phase of Cork Airport’s €200 million capital development programme get underway, including the construction of a new mezzanine floor, which will be the location of a new passenger security screening area that will open in late 2026.

According to Kenny Jacobs, CEO of daa: “The school holiday period may have ended, but load factors remain solid at Cork Airport with particularly strong performances on our key European services to Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, and very positive inbound demand from the UK, especially London, Bristol and Glasgow.

“September also saw more than 1,700 pilgrims travel on diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes from Cork Airport, continuing a proud Cork tradition. I’m really excited to see work start on the new mezzanine floor, which will allow us to move fully to new cutting-edge C3 scanning technology that will mean passengers no longer need to remove liquids or gels from their hand luggage. This is just the first of many great improvements coming to Cork Airport that will make the passenger experience even better than it already is.”

Dublin Airport
At Dublin Airport, a total of 3,346,400 passengers passed through in September, which was +3.6% higher than in the same month in 2024.

Every single day in September saw Dublin Airport welcome more than 100,000 passengers, with 18 days in the month seeing more than 110,000 passengers passing through, and six days coming in above 120,000.

September has now joined June, July and August as a peak summer month, with passenger numbers averaging 111,000 per day. Numbers travelling in the month were boosted by the successful staging of the first ever NFL match in Dublin, which saw Dublin Airport welcome upwards of 30,000 fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings from North America. The match was validation of the power of big events to help attract high net-worth tourists to Ireland from around the world.

September was a landmark month for Dublin Airport as it was finally able to remove the 100ml liquid limit at security, following the completion of the roll-out of new C3 scanners in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.

The C3 rollout has involved a multi-million-euro investment by daa in Dublin Airport, with the works carried out over the busiest three years in the airport’s history.

daa’s relentless focus on improving standards for passengers at Dublin Airport – a 4-star Skytrax rated airport – continues to pay off with passenger satisfaction scores remaining at record high levels in September. Indeed, through the first nine months of 2025, the average rating given by departing passengers regarding their experience at Dublin Airport was 8.7 (out of 10) and 9.2 (out of 10) for arriving passengers.

daa CEO Kenny Jacobs said: “Passengers are loving the fact that they no longer need to remove liquids or electronics from their hand luggage when going through security screening and this is helping to make their experience at security even smoother and safer.”

“daa’s investment in the passenger product won’t stop there either, with work progressing on a doubling in size of the T1 Lounge, as well as a new and improved Fast Track facility in T1. Work is also underway on the fit-out of a new Irish bar, while a full renovation of the 51st and Green lounge in T2 has also just started.

“We also need to invest and build new infrastructure to ensure Dublin Airport can continue to cope with the passenger and airline demand that’s coming its way over the years ahead. We’re working hard behind the scenes to progress our Infrastructure and Operational planning applications, and we welcome the decision this week by the Cabinet to approve Minister Darragh O’Brien’s request to proceed with the drafting of legislation to remove Dublin Airport’s 32 million a year passenger cap.

“We hope this process can move swiftly to give Dublin Airport the ability to meet the strong and growing demand from passengers and airlines worldwide to fly in and out of our national gateway, safeguarding Ireland’s connectivity, jobs, tourism and wider economic growth,” said Jacobs.