Dublin Airport Passenger Numbers Dip, Due to Cap; Cork Grows

Passenger numbers through Dublin Airport dipped by 1%, year-on-year, in January due to the impact of the 32 million passenger cap at the hub.

Latest monthly traffic figures from airport operator daa – the first of the year – show a 7% year-on-year increase in January passenger traffic through Cork Airport.

Just over 2.1 million passengers passed through Dublin Airport’s two terminals in January; with a little over 196,000 doing likewise in Cork Airport.

According to daa, if the Dublin passenger limit were not in place, there would have been an additional 150,000-200,000 passengers in January, which – it said – would have been an extra boost to tourism, the economy and aviation jobs.

Dublin Airport contributes €10bn in gross value added (GVA) to the Irish economy and supports 116,100 jobs in the Republic of Ireland.

Daa Chief Executive, Kenny Jacobs, said: “Operationally, Dublin Airport had a strong month even with Storm Éowyn, but the cap storm shows no sign of abating. January was the second month running where passenger numbers were lower year-on-year despite huge demand from both passengers and airlines to fly in and out of Dublin Airport. This is consistent with industry predictions that Ireland would be the only country among the top 20 European countries in air travel to show a decline in scheduled seat capacity in Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024.

“Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea, the UK government has announced its support for the expansion of Heathrow to unlock growth and make the UK more connected. It’s also pressing on with plans to grow capacity at Stansted, Luton, Gatwick and London City airports.  A key element of the UK approach is to speed up their planning system to back those building for the UK’s future.

“daa welcomes the new Irish government’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to resolve the cap that is dragging on Dublin’s development and to speeding up major infrastructure development to grow jobs, connectivity and tourism. Ireland has long been regarded as an aviation pioneer and innovator, we want to be setting the standard rather than playing catchup with our neighbours.”

Meanwhile, Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport Managing Director, expressed satisfaction with the strong start to the year: “We are very happy to see such a positive start to the year with a 7% increase in passenger traffic in January. This growth is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and the strong support from our passengers and airline partners.”

Regarding Cork, Mr Jacobs said: “Cork Airport’s impressive passenger growth is a clear indicator of the airport’s vital role in supporting jobs in tourism, business and internationally trading companies right across the South of Ireland. daa is committed to supporting Cork Airport to grow to five million passengers a year within the next decade. We’ve lots of exciting plans including investing in expanding the terminal facilities as well as investing in infrastructure.”

January’s most popular routes out of Dublin were London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Manchester, London Gatwick and London Stansted.

January’s most popular routes out of Cork were London Heathrow, Amsterdam, London Stansted, Manchester and Lanzarote.