DUBLIN: Ireland passenger numbers at Dublin Airport increased by 8% in 2014 to 21.7million. Dublin Airport, which is Ireland’s main international gateway and a key indicator for the Irish economy, saw growth across all major sectors of its business during 2014. The growth is expected to continue into this year, with 14 new services due to begin in 2015.
Long-haul traffic recorded a strong performance last year, as the number of passengers taking flights to North America and the Middle East increased by 14%. Short-haul traffic increased by 7%.
Dublin Airport had a very strong year of passenger growth in 2014, adding more than 1.5 million extra passengers and outperforming the average airport growth rates across the European Union,’ said Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison.
The growth was due to a combination of 24 new routes last year and additional flights on 34 existing services,’ Mr Harrison added.
Airlines such as Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Flybe, British Airways, and WestJet all added new services from Dublin Airport last year and 11 carriers increased capacity on their existing services.
In volume terms, the British market delivered the largest growth last year, as an extra 600,000 people took flights between Dublin and British destinations in 2014. About 570,000 additional passengers took flights between Dublin Airport and continental European destinations last year.
Transatlantic traffic increased by 14%, as more than 2.1 million people travelled on flights between Dublin and North America during 2014.
Dublin Airport’s transatlantic business set an all-time record last year, as this was the first time that more than 2 million people took transatlantic flights to and from Dublin Airport in a single year,’ Mr Harrison said. Last year’s transatlantic business was boosted by new services to Toronto, San Francisco and St John’s Newfoundland.
