Daa announced Dublin and Cork handled than 2.5m passengers in December, rounding out a strong year for both airports. The total number of passengers through both airports in 2024 was 37.7m, reflecting strong demand for travel from tourists, business people and the general public, as well as continued population growth.
daa CEO Kenny Jacobs, said “2024 was a strong year for both Dublin and Cork airports, and I’d like to thank all the hardworking staff at both airports who sent more than 37 million passengers on their way with a smile throughout the year. Demand for travel was huge throughout the year at both airports, and it was great to see Cork hit the three million passenger milestone for the first time since 2008. We have big plans for Cork’s ongoing growth and look forward to revealing the details of our new masterplan soon, which will continue to support Cork as Ireland’s fastest growing airport.”
Cork Airport had a record-breaking December, welcoming 211k passengers, a 7% increase on December 2023. The busiest day was Saturday, December 28, when 10k passengers passed through the airport, up 15.6% versus the same day in 2023. 2024 was also the busiest year for international passenger traffic in the airport’s 63-year history, and Cork Airport was Ireland’s fastest-growing airport in 2024.
Dublin Airport’s 11-month growth run ended in December. While the airport welcomed 2.29m passengers through its terminals, this was a 1% decline versus December 2023, in contrast to the previous 11 months which all saw increases. The busiest day was Sunday, December 29, when 98k passengers went through the terminals, a 4% decline versus the same day in 2023.
Overall, 2024 was a year of growth despite daa’s effort to dampen demand, with a total of 33.3m passengers through the terminals, a 4% increase on 2023 numbers. Including connecting and other passengers, the total number of passengers using Dublin Airport in 2024 was 34.6m (+3.3% vs 2023). On 171 days of 2024, the airport managed more than 100k passengers a day, demonstrating its operational capacity to manage 36m passengers a year.
Image Credit: Dublin Airport
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 18 January 2024 All Rights Reserved
