More than half of domestic passengers flying through Dublin Airport reside outside of Dublin, according to new figures released by Dublin Airport operator DAA.
Publishing figures on the origin of domestic passengers for the first time, DAA said that Dublin Airport is “Ireland’s national airport”, as people from every one of the 32 counties chose to fly out of the facility last year.
Some 44 per cent of domestic passengers using Dublin Airport last year lived in Co Dublin, with just over one quarter (26 per cent) residing in the rest of Leinster.
Almost one in eight passengers (12 per cent) travelled to Dublin Airport from Munster, while 11 per cent were from Ulster, and 6 per cent came from Connacht.
In a county-by-county breakdown, the next biggest source of passengers after the capital was Kildare, providing 6 per cent of all passengers travelling through Dublin Airport last year.
This was followed by Meath and Cork, which each contributed 4 per cent to total passenger numbers.
Kenny Jacobs, DAA chief executive, said DAA will be submitting an infrastructure application to Fingal County Council later this year to equip the airport “to sustainably meet the demands of passengers and support the growing Irish economy for decades to come”.
DAA’s Capital Investment Programme 2020+ includes a number of projects designed to increase capacity at Dublin Airport from the current 32 million passengers per year, to 40 million by 2030 – with a projected cost of €2.5 billion.
“With passenger numbers set to grow over the coming years, we’re committed to delivering the services and facilities required to ensure standards for passengers at Dublin Airport are among the highest of any capital city airport in Europe,” said Mr Jacobs.
