Sunday is expected to be the busiest day of the Christmas season at Dublin Airport following a massive increase in footfall at the airport this year.
It is a busy time of year for travel with many emigrants departing again after Christmas. The airport is reporting an increase of 18 per cent over the period with more than 925,000 passengers expected to have travelled through between the start of Christmas week and January 1st.
Dublin Airport spokeswoman Siobhán O’Donnell said flight operations would cease tonight after the last flight departs at 11pm to Moldova. Flights will resume on St Stephen’s Day at 4.45am when the first flight lands from Addis Ababa.
Cork Airport will have more than 100,000 passengers on 700 flights, with January 2nd its busiest day after Christmas. Shannon Airport is expecting its busiest Christmas in five years.
The Aircoach service to and from Dublin Airport will not operate tomorrow.
In terms of domestic travel, commuters have been advised to plan ahead as public transport providers will also have revised schedules. Iarnród Éireann expects up to 400,000 intercity journeys across the network over the holiday period.
Intercity services will operate a regular weekday service today, with some alterations until 9pm. Connolly Station and Cork commuter services will operate a regular Saturday service until 9pm. Heuston commuter services will operate a weekday service until 8pm.
Customers are advised to consult timetables before travelling on intercity, Dart and commuter services, as there are schedule alterations daily.
There will be no Dart services tomorrow or on St Stephen’s Day, but Sunday will operate as normal. There is no Dublin Bus Nitelink service tonight, tomorrow or on St Stephen’s Day.
Heavy traffic
AA Roadwatch has predicted a “very busy” festive season, with traffic levels at their heaviest in recent years and “unlikely to relent” over the season.
A special premium rate applies to taxis from 8pm tonight to 8am on St Stephen’s Day, and between 8pm on New Year’s Eve and 8am on New Year’s Day.
There is an initial charge of €4 for up to 0.5km or 85 seconds, and a tariff of €1.75 a kilometre or €0.62 a minute applies.
There will be no Bus Éireann services tomorrow and there will be a reduced service on St Stephen’s Day, with routes operating only at specific times throughout the day.
Adjustments to regional and intercity routes over Christmas are also included in the timetable.
