Just over 2.1 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport during January, a new high for the opening month of the year.
Airport operator Daa said the number was 2% higher than in January 2019 - the previous record January - and more than double the figure in January 2022.
Daa claimed that 95.7% of passengers passed through security screening in under 20 minutes and “virtually all” in under 30 minutes. At Cork Airport, the January 2023 passenger total was 162,000, which was 12% higher than January 2019.
Overall, the total number of passengers at Daa’s two Irish airports during January was 2.27 million, up from 2.15 million in January 2019 and 956,000 in January 2022.
New CEO Kenny Jacobs said the addition of an extra public holiday weekend in February, combined with Valentine's Day and the mid-term school break, means February will be another very busy month at both airports.
“The most popular destination from both Dublin and Cork airports was London Heathrow. In total, 78% of flights from Cork Airport departed on time in January, while 76% were on time leaving Dublin Airport.”
“We are expecting and planning for another busy year at Dublin Airport and the main focus is on improving security queue times and our standards in both terminals, but especially Terminal 1.
“Work to further improve the Dublin Airport experience will accelerate over the coming weeks and months."
Elsewhere, AIPCO, the group representing Ireland’s conference organisers, has warned that rising prices are putting the country’s €75m business tourism market at risk.
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The group represents nine companies that organise c.175 events annually, bringing over 45,000 international delegates to Ireland per year.
The organisation has highlighted significant increases in the costs of accommodation, AV equipment, catering, venue hire and transport.
AIPCO chair Nicola McGrane commented: “These are major challenges for association conferences who typically work with very tight budgets.
“Some people are choosing not to return to our industry and training new people will take time. We’re doing that while simultaneously working extremely hard to get the industry and events back up and running.”
AIPCO’s annual Business Tourism Conference takes place on March 2/3 at the Fota Resort in Cork.
