Aer Arann now third largest Dublin Airport operator

Aer Arann is now the largest operator at Dublin Airport, outside of the "big two" Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Head of sales at Aer Arann Colin Lewis said: "We are delighted that Aer Arann is now bigger than Air France, SAS, BA, Cityjet, Lufthansa, Delta, Iberia and Continental at Dublin Airport - we are now the third largest operator."

More than 1.8 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport during the month of April 2007, a 9% increase over the same period last year, according to figures released by the Dublin Airport Authority. Aer Arann carried 47,298 customers in April, overtaking BMI in that month, and up 24% over April last year.

Year to date, Aer Arann has carried 174,155 customers, also 24% up on same period last year.

Domestic air travel in Ireland has been a huge area of growth. Communications manager for the Dublin Airport Authority Siobhan Moore said: "Ireland is experiencing a period of financial prosperity in which people are time-poor and this has been a factor in the expansion of our home routes."