Over 2.3m passengers pass through Cork and Dublin Airport in January

Michael Bolton

It was a busy start to the year for Ireland's two busiest airports, with 2.3 million passengers going through Cork and Dublin Airport.

According to the daa, 183,000 passed through Cork Airport while just over two million passengers passed through Dublin Airport's terminals in January.

There were 1,387 flights in January at Cork Airport, with 16,817 departing from Dublin Airport.

The most popular destination was Heathrow Airport in London.

According to Kenny Jacobs, chief executive of daa: "The cold and dreary weather in Ireland during January saw thousands opting to escape to warmer surroundings.

"For holidaymakers, flights to the Canaries proved popular from both Cork and Dublin airports during the month, while routes to central and eastern Europe were also very busy as thousands headed to ski slopes.

"The start of 2024 also saw a strong flow of business passengers at both airports.

"The year got off to a great start at Cork Airport with passenger traffic up 14 per cent versus January 2023, and 2024 is shaping up to be another very busy year.

"Nine out of 10 flights in the 'first wave' of departures (5.45am-7.30am) departed on time from Cork Airport during January which is a testament to the hard work of the operations team.

"The number of passengers through Dublin Airport in January was on a par with 2023 levels. Numbers through Dublin Airport could obviously be higher, but daa continues to manage passenger levels to ensure the airport does not exceed the 32 million cap on the number of passengers who can travel through the airport's two terminals."