The daa has this week reported strong passenger numbers for Dublin Airport & Cork Airport last month.
Such numbers represent strong and steady increases, as we will come to explore in this piece.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
The Figures for Dublin & Cork…
Cork Airport handled 193,000 passengers in February 2024, which was 23% higher than the same period last year.
As for Dublin Airport, 2.1m passengers travelled through, which is an increase of five per cent compared to February 2023.
daa CEO Kenny Jacobs had this to say on the results:
“It’s been a really strong start to the year at both Cork and Dublin airports and we’re seeing no let-up in the demand to fly.”
“That demand is being seen across the board, from business travel to family trips overseas.”
“That’s no surprise given the buoyant economy, with more and more businesses and workers looking to locate in Ireland, and also the dreary weather here during the early months of the year, which has encouraged many to head off in search of some winter sun.”
“The teams at both Cork and Dublin airports provided a really smooth experience for passengers in February with 100% through security screening in under 20 minutes at Cork Airport and 99% of passengers through in under 20 minutes at Dublin Airport.”
“The number of passengers through Cork Airport in February was 23% higher than the same month last year.”
“This was the result of strong demand for both our European and UK destinations, and also due to the fact we had an extra day in the month due to it being a Leap Year.”
“The first two months have been busy in Cork and all signs point to it being a record year for passenger numbers.”
Calls for the Cap To Be Lifted Continue…
Furthermore to this, Jacobs took the opportunity to reaffirm his calls for the cap at Dublin Airport to be lifted:
“The number of passengers through Dublin Airport in February was around 5% higher than the same month last year.”
“Numbers through Dublin Airport could obviously be higher, but growth remains constrained due to the terminals cap of 32 million passengers per annum.”
“Every week, Dublin Airport is speaking with airlines who want to fly directly to Dublin.”
“These are opportunities that daa, given our mandate to connect Ireland with the world, wants to take up”.
“And we know our passengers want them too.”
“But a planning cap of 32 million passengers per year on terminals 1 and 2 makes this a challenging situation.”
“Ultimately raising the cap to 40 million, as daa has proposed in a recent planning application to Fingal County Council”.
“[This] would open the door to more routes and services, more tourists, more jobs, and more economic growth and we hope that process moves quickly.”
“In the meantime, we are continuing to work proactively with the airlines and the [IAA]… to [manage] capacity”.
Overall…
In conclusion, Cork Airport performed extremely well last month, as did Dublin but with caveats.
With the daa CEO Kenny Jacobs calling for the cap to be raised to 40m, growth continues to be stifled.
Furthermore, it is unclear whether the Irish Government will budge on this, especially with Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary visiting them this week.
But for now, let’s wait and see what happens in due course.
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