Cork Airport sees 7% growth in passengers while Dublin Airport sees a decline

Kenneth Fox

DAA, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports, has released its first monthly passenger numbers for 2025, which show Cork Airport remains on trend as the fastest growing airport in Ireland with 7 per cent more passengers in January versus 2024.

They said it was a different story in Dublin, where the number of passengers through Dublin’s terminals was -1 per cent lower than in January 2024 due to the impact of the 32 million passenger cap.

If there was no cap at Dublin Airport, there would have been an additional 150,000-200,000 passengers in January, which would have been a boost to tourism, the economy, and well-paid aviation jobs, DAA said.

Dublin Airport contributes €10 billion in gross value added (GVA) to the Irish economy and supports 116,100 jobs in the Republic of Ireland.

ACI Europe research confirms every +10 per cent increase in direct connectivity yields an increase of +0.5 per cent GDP per capita.

The cap continues to be a drag on all parts of the economy in the winter months (October, November, December, January, February) and Ireland needs the cap to go in 2025.

They said Storm Éowyn had a significant impact on both Dublin and Cork airports in January.

The storm, one of the most powerful to hit Ireland in recent history, resulted in the cancellation of more than 230 flights scheduled to depart from or arrive at Dublin Airport.

Cork Airport also faced significant disruptions, with airlines adjusting their operations due to the storm's severity and the cancellation of 19 flights. However, both airports responded well and were able to resume operations from mid-morning on the day of the storm.

Niall MacCarthy, Cork Airport managing director, expressed satisfaction with the strong start to the year: "We are very happy to see such a positive start to the year with a 7 per cent increase in passenger traffic in January. This growth is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and the strong support from our passengers and airline partners."

Commenting on Dublin Airport’s performance in January, Kenny Jacobs said: "Operationally, Dublin Airport had a strong month even with Storm Éowyn, but the cap storm shows no sign of abating.

"January was the second month running where passenger numbers were lower year-on-year despite huge demand from both passengers and airlines to fly in and out of Dublin Airport.

"This is consistent with industry predictions that Ireland would be the only country among the top 20 European countries in air travel to show a decline in scheduled seat capacity in Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024."

DAA welcomed the new Irish government’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to resolve the cap that is dragging on Dublin’s development and to speeding up major infrastructure development to grow jobs, connectivity and tourism.

They also confirmed it will resubmit its ‘no build’ Operational Application (OA) to increase passenger numbers at Dublin Airport to 36 million a year to Fingal County Council (FCC) this week.