Dublin Airport passenger numbers up 7%

More than 8.5 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport during the first six months of the year, a 7% increase over the same period last year, according to figures released by the Dublin Airport Authority.

European traffic provided the strongest growth during this time growing by an impressive 18% to over 3.6 million passengers.

The tansatlantic market has also grown significantly with passenger numbers rising to 548,000 or a 13% increase over the same period last year. The increase in this market was helped with new services to Chicago and Toronto from American Airlines and Air Transat respectively.

Passenger volumes to and from UK destinations remained at relatively the same levels as 2004 with more than 4 million passengers travelling on this route sector.

Domestic traffic declined by 5% in the first six months of the year to 316,000 passengers. The decrease in traffic in this sector is largely due to the growing number of routes operating directly from Irish regional airports to UK and other destinations.

Dublin Airport has welcomed 18 new routes and services since the beginning of the year. A further 12 routes/services are scheduled to launch over the coming months.