Dublin Airport to pass 32 million passenger mark in December

28.7m passengers through Dublin Airport so far in 2024.

Passenger cap remains an issue.

Cork and Dublin airports continued their record-breaking streak in October, welcoming a total of 3.1 million passengers through their terminals. Announcing its monthly passenger numbers, daa confirmed that October 2024 was the busiest ever October for both airports, with passenger numbers up 2% compared with 2023.

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 our capital. Leaving the country was popular too, with record numbers travelling during the October bank holiday period from both Cork and Dublin airports.

At Dublin Airport, numbers could have been higher still but daa continues to make every effort to dampen airline demand to comply with the 32 million terminals passenger cap. This includes asking the High Court to review the Irish Aviation Authority’s (IAA) allocation of slots for the winter 2024/25 season, which will be heard on December 3. However, based on forecasts, daa continues to warn that passenger numbers will exceed 32 million and will be closer to 33 million in 2024.

Dublin Airport

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. The busiest day of the month was Monday, October 21 when 114,000 passengers went through the airport’s two terminals. However, this included rebooked passengers who had been unable to fly during Storm Ashley. Otherwise, the bank holiday Friday, October 25, would have been the busiest with 110,000 passengers.

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.

To bring an end to the impasse, daa remains focused on supporting its application to increase the passenger number to 40 million to pass through the planning system. Next week, daa will submit its response to Fingal County Council’s comprehensive request for further information on a range of topics. It also continues to work on a standalone ‘operational application’ which could increase the cap to 36 million without building any infrastructure, though this has been complicated by the instigation of a further consultation period prompted by the recent draft decision by An Bord Pleanála on night-time flights and hours of operation at Dublin Airport.

Cork Airport

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.

There was also good news from existing carriers, with Aer Lingus Regional commencing their new service to Glasgow, which operates four-times weekly and connects Cork with the largest city in Scotland. Following strong demand, Aer Lingus Regional will also operate additional services to Bristol, bringing the frequency on that route up to nine times weekly. Ryanair will be continuing their service to Brussels Charleroi throughout the winter and have added a winter service to Fuerteventura.

As the clocks went back and the winter schedule swung into effect, passengers arriving in Cork were also swinging to the sound of jazz music in the terminal building. Cork Airport, as an official partner to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, welcomed tens of thousands of visitors – all coming to Cork to enjoy one of the highlights of the city’s cultural calendar.

Cork Airport also received a welcome funding boost from the Department of Transport, with €2.284 million being provided as part of the Regional State Airports Sustainability Programme. This funding will go towards the construction of a new solar farm on the airport campus, which will provide up to 25% of the airport’s energy needs in the future, along with the electrification of existing ground power units.

While Dublin slows, UK grows

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.”