Record number of passengers travel through Dublin Airport in 2017
A record-breaking 29.6 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport last year.
The 6% increase in passenger numbers in 2017 signals the seventh consecutive year of growth at the airport.
About 27.8 million passengers started or ended their journey at Dublin last year, while a further 1.8m passengers used Dublin Airport as a hub.
Short-haul traffic increased by 4% to 25.3 million, while long-haul passenger numbers increased by 19% to 4.3 million.
Dublin Airport beat its previous passenger record, which was set in 2016, by almost 1.7 million.
"Dublin Airport had another record-breaking year during 2017, with passenger numbers increasing by 6% to just under 29.6 million," said Dublin Airport managing director Vincent Harrison.
"The continued growth at Dublin Airport is fantastic news for the Irish economy. Increased air connectivity boosts tourism, trade and foreign direct investment.
"Last year’s record performance for visitor numbers across the island of Ireland was underpinned by the growth in passenger numbers at Dublin."
Passenger traffic to and from continental Europe, which is Dublin Airport’s largest market segment, increased by 7% to a record 15.2 million in 2017.
About 940,000 additional people took flights between Dublin and continental European destinations last year.
Traffic between Dublin and British airports increased by 1% to just under 10 million, which was also a new record.
Transatlantic passenger numbers increased by 20% last year to almost 3.5 million - the first time that more than 3 million passengers have taken transatlantic flights to and from Dublin Airport in a single year.
"Dublin Airport is now a significant player in the transatlantic market and we saw strong growth in both point-to-point and connecting traffic to and from North America during 2017," Mr Harrison said.
Passenger traffic to other international destinations, including the Middle East and Africa, increased by 14% to almost 850,000 last year.
- Top 5 destinations: London, Amsterdam, Manchester, New York, Birmingham;
- Busiest Day: June 30 - 108,000 passengers;
- Average of 81,000 passengers per day;
- Busiest Month: July - 3.12 million passengers;
- Quietest Month: February - 1.79 million passenger;
- Two new airlines – Air Arabia Maroc & Qatar Airways;
- 14 new routes;
- Extra capacity on 39 existing services.
