Cork Airport traffic up 10%, more growth predicted

Cork Airport recorded an impressive 10% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic for March, with 249,000 passengers passing through its terminal last month.

While Cork Airport saw a marked increase in traffic during March, this was in sharp contrast to Dublin Airport, which saw a 3% year-on-year reduction compared to March 2024.

Big sporting events such as Ireland’s away games in the Six Nations championship and the Cheltenham racing festival saw many passengers pass through Cork Airport, with large numbers at the airport for St Patrick’s weekend.

The high numbers in Cork were achieved despite Easter not falling in March as it did last year, and the disruption following the closure of London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday, March 21.

Both Cork and Dublin airports regularly conduct business continuity exercises and are examining what happened at Heathrow to ensure the robustness of their plans.

The growth at Cork Airport is also highlighted by Air France resuming the Cork to Paris Charles de Gaulle service in early March. This was followed by Lufthansa’s resumption of its Cork-Frankfurt route the following week.

Kenny Jacobs, CEO of DAA, the operator of Cork and Dublin airports, said the figures illustrate the momentum behind Cork being regarded as Ireland’s fastest growing airport.

“Cork Airport is really flying, welcoming just shy of a quarter of a million passengers last month.

“With a bumper St Patrick’s weekend, lots of Six Nations charters and additional services to Birmingham for the Cheltenham racing festival, Cork continues to grow at lightning pace,” said Mr Jacobs.

“It’s great to see four new routes added this summer , Bilbao, Bordeaux, Corfu, and Izmir , with the first of these to Bilbao starting on April 16.

“Cork is experiencing significant growth and success in the first quarter of 2025.”