Cork Airport 'actively engaging' with airlines to grow its service with Dublin Airport due to exceed passenger cap

Cork Airport has said that it is actively engaging with airlines to grow its service offerings next year, following the expectation that Dublin Airport will exceed it’s 32 million passenger cap in 2024.

To date this year, Dublin Airport has seen 22.7 million passengers travel through it’s terminals, with August striding ahead as the busiest month in it’s 84-year history, catering to a total of 3.46 million visitors.

In comparison to Dublin Airport figures, Cork Airport welcomed a record 340,705 passengers in August, which represented a 10% increase on the previous year.

As of the end of August, passenger numbers at Dublin Airport were trending 5.5% ahead of 2023, with this trend forecasted to continue through September.

While this increase in numbers is welcomed by the DAA, the body has made extensive efforts to reduce passenger numbers to comply with planning requirements.

This includes the removal of airline incentives at Dublin Airport, and the launch by Cork Airport of a new scheme to encourage airlines to move seat capacity from Dublin to Cork.

Speaking to The Echo, managing director of Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy said: “Cork Airport is Ireland’s fastest growing airport at the moment, with growth of 10% expected this year, to [reach] nearly 3.1 million passengers.

“We are actively engaging with airlines to grow even more next year with more choice, more routes and further growing tourism to the south of Ireland.

“We expect to have exciting announcements regarding next year in the months ahead.” Cork Airport is now on track to exceed its milestone of three million passengers travelling internationally before the end of the year, with recent CSO statistics showing that the service is the fastest growing of the three state airports in the first seven months of 2024.

To further alleviate pressure at Dublin Airport, the DAA has applied to Fingal County Council to increase the current terminals passenger cap to 40 million passengers per year, as part of a broader Infrastructure Application (IA).

The IA seeks permission for a range of significant sustainable investments to facilitate the projected growth of passengers through the airport.

The DAA is also preparing to lodge an Operational Application (OA) which seeks to increase the passenger cap only, without the additional sustainable infrastructure developments detailed in the IA to hasten the lifting of the cap.