Dublin reports record passenger level rises

Tina Milton

Print Article E-Mail Article E-Mail Author

The airport welcomed over 17m passengers in 2004 and anticipates strong growth this year

Dublin airport posted an 8% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic for 2004 to 17.1m and cited European and North Atlantic routes as the main contributors to growth.

European passenger traffic grew by 13% to 7m passengers in 2004, supported by the enlargement of the European Union (EU), while traffic on North American routes crossed the 1m mark for the first time in the airport's history, reaching 1.1m and representing a rise of 9% over 2003. Traveller numbers to the UK grew by 5% to 8.3m and domestic traffic increased by 2% to 690,000.

Commenting on the performance, Dublin airport director Robert Hilliard said: "I am delighted that Dublin continues to enjoy above average international growth levels and I am confident that this trend will continue in 2005."

Seven new routes are planned during the first six months of 2005. Aer Lingus is scheduled to operate services to Seville, Naples, Marseille and Hamburg, while Air Transat will run a route to Toronto. Thompson Fly will offer services to Doncaster and American Airlines plans to fly from Dublin to Chicago. The airport launched an additional 35 new routes last year.