Dublin Port celebrates passenger surge

Dublin Port Company saw a 28% increase in passenger numbers in the first three months of the year, the company said today.

Growth in throughput totalled 7.6 million tonnes, and increase of 9.93% on the same period last year.

Imports levels in Q1 increased by 8.08% to 4.9 million tonnes, while exports reached 2.7 million tonnes, a 13.5% increase on figures in 2006. The continued growth in throughput in Q1 follows a year of high trade volume growth in 2006. Throughput in 2006 reached 29.2 million, the highest volume of trade to pass through Dublin Port in a year.

The largest growth recorded in Q1 was in the transit of consumer goods through the unitised (lift-on, lift-off and roll-on, roll-off) sector, which accounts for three quarters of total throughput.

Between January and March this year, ferry passenger numbers passenger numbers increased by a significant 28.05%. This rise brought the total number of ferry passengers up to 270,375 during this period, an increase of close to 60,000 passengers, compared to the same period last year.

The number of trade cars coming through Dublin Port in Q1 amounted to 44,250 cars. This represents a 2.10% decrease on the corresponding period last year.