Irish airports handle record numbers in 2002

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Irish airports operator Aer Rianta has announced that a record 19.3m passengers travelled through Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports during 2002. Passenger numbers through the three airports were 4% higher than 2001

Dublin enjoyed a record-breaking year with close to 15.1m passengers passing through the airport in 2002, an increase of 5%. Passenger numbers between Dublin and the UK rose by 6% to 7.9m, while there was a 9% rise in the numbers flying to and from mainland Europe. Transatlantic traffic fell by 15%.

At Shannon airport, passenger numbers fell 2% to 2.35m but there was 35% growth in passengers flying on European routes.

Passenger numbers through Cork jumped by 6% to an all time high of nearly 1.9m. There was growth of 16% on European routes, particularly charter flights to sun destinations.

In all, over 30 new scheduled routes were initiated from Dublin, Cork and Shannon. Up to 25 new services are expected to begin in 2003.