Cork Airport set to smash 17-year passenger record with 3.4m trevellers

No more Dublin flights: How Cork Airport's 3.4m passenger boom is powered by international travel

In 2007, 8,800 domestic flights carried more than 515,000 passengers to and from Cork. Picture: David Creedon

Cork Airport is on course to break a 17-year record when an estimated 3.4m passengers use the airport this year.

Passenger numbers through the hub have surged in recent years, surpassing the levels seen prior to the covid pandemic.

Last year, just over 3m passengers departed or arrived at Cork — a jump on the 2.8m in 2023.

This figure has remained below the record set in 2008, when 3.26m passengers used the terminal. That figure included the thousands of passengers who used Cork Airport to travel on numerous daily domestic flights to Dublin along with flights to Belfast, routes which no longer operate.

Data from DAA, the operator of Cork and Dublin airports, shows that more than 3m passengers have already used Cork Airport this year to the end of October, with officials forecasting that 3.4m will have passed through the terminal by the end of the year.

The new terminal opened at Cork Airport in 2006, coinciding with a surge in domestic and international travel from Cork, with passenger numbers surpassing the 3m mark that year for the first time.

However, that figure included more than 400,000 passengers who travelled on 6,500 domestic flights to and from Cork that year.

The number of domestic flights peaked in 2007, when 8,800 flights carried more than 515,000 passengers.

Air passengers travelling between Cork and Dublin benefited from healthy competition between operators Ryanair and Aer Arann on the route, with Aer Lingus having previously withdrawn its service.

However, improvements to the rail links and the motorway between both cities meant passenger numbers on the route declined.

The financial crash in 2008 and the following austerity measures also impacted travel patterns.

Ryanair cut the last Cork-to-Dublin flight in October 2011.

By 2015, annual passenger numbers through Cork had fallen by more than 1m to just over 2.06m.

Since then, and barring the covid-related lockdowns, traffic through Cork has risen steadily and should easily surpass 2008 levels on international flights, highlighting the continued demand for air travel by passengers in Munster.

DAA chief Kenny Jacobs said: “2025 is shaping up to be one of Cork Airport’s best years, with passenger numbers running two months ahead of last year.

Hannah Davison was the three-millionth passenger to use Cork Airport in 2025, arriving from Gatwick. Picture: David Creedon

“In October, nearly 50,000 more passengers used Cork Airport compared with October 2024, as the airport strengthens its position as the airport of choice for customers in the South of Ireland. It was great to see so many inbound visitors arriving for the Cork Jazz Festival. The departure gates were busy too, with lots of families heading off for some winter sunshine during the mid-term break.

“DAA is continuing to invest big to maximise the potential of Cork Airport, and works are progressing at pace on the construction of the new mezzanine floor in the terminal, which will soon be the location of the airport’s new passenger security screening area — fully kitted out with best-in-class C3 scanning technology.”